Grace Personified
by Pacingincircles
Summary: Fitz and Liv are happily married. Post presidency. He's a professor, she's still working at OPA. The kids are happy, Mellie's out of the picture. They both have gotten the dream, but can happily ever after get even happier?
1. Mommy

**Just another night's worth of procrastination. Enjoy!**

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><p>"What are you doing home so early?" Fitz asks as he closes the front door behind himself, dropping his briefcase and making his way over to Olivia. She's sitting on the couch wrapped up in a blanket, a glass of ginger ale on the coffee table in front of her next to an empty bowl of chicken noodle soup.<p>

"I think I may have picked up a bug from that school field trip with Teddy or something," she replies with a small pout as she picks up the ginger ale and takes a sip. "I'm sure it's just a forty eight hour thing and I'll be back to dismantling crises in no time."

He gives her a small smile and leans in to kiss her forehead. "You do feel a little warm. Can I get you anything?"

She hands him the empty bowl of soup, "Maybe just a refill?" And he nods in agreement and turns toward the direction of the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a fresh bowl of soup.

"Do you need anything else?" He asks as he hands her the bowl, watching as she takes a small bite, scrunching up her face when she realizes how hot it actually is. He chuckles and kisses her temple again.

"I could use a proper hello actually," she says with a devilish grin, placing the soup on the table again. He kneels down, pressing one his knees on the couch—effectively straddling her. And he slowly leans forward, keeping eye contact with her the entire time, and right as his lips were to contact hers, he pulls back and smiles. "If you're sick maybe I should stay away. It's not very becoming of a former president to catch the flu, even if it is from his beautiful wife."

She lets his words sink in for a few seconds before grabbing his tie and pulling him back down to her—capturing his lips with her own. She pulls back after a few seconds—still tightly grasping his tie, holding him in place—and gives him a cheeky smile. "If I have to suffer through this, you do too, mister. Presidency be damned."

"Well," he says in a drawn out fashion, "I guess being sick isn't so bad if we do it together. And I like doing this," he leans in and kisses her again, baiting her to open her mouth with his tongue after a few seconds. He finally pulls back, not overlooking the matching smiles on their faces. "I like doing that too much to let anything stand in my way anymore." And he drops his weight and pins her to the couch, stifling her surprised laughter with another all-consuming kiss. He eventually flips them over, holding her close in his arms, never breaking the kiss—and they only do pulls away when they hear familiar giggles and the creaking of steps.

They both look over to the teenage girl, playfully covering her little bother's eyes with her hands as they stand on the outskirts of the living room together. Teddy tries to wrangle himself free, but Karen is too agile and familiar with his usual squirming habits. "Daddy stop kissing mom! I wanna be able to see again!" The little boy yells through another round of giggles.

Karen pulls her hands away from Teddy's face and gives Olivia and Fitz a disapproving look. "Why can't this be a normal family where I'm the one caught making out on the couch with my boyfriend by you two?"

Teddy looks up at Karen, innocently pointing out, "You don't even have a boyfriend anymore, Karen!"

She gives her brother a faux angry glare. "That is beside the point, Theodore."

Fitz and Olivia both laugh—Liv quickly looking over at Teddy and whispering, "You better run, little man; you just got the full name." And the little boy's eyes grow wide for a few seconds before he runs over and launches himself on top of his father and stepmother. Fitz picks up the little boy and throws him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry as he parades in circles around the living room, Teddy laughing and shrieking the entire time. Karen moves to sit on the couch next to Olivia and takes a sip of her ginger ale.

"You probably shouldn't have done that, Karen. I think I'm getting sick," Olivia points out as Karen returns the now half empty glass to the table.

"Eh, that's ok. Any excuse not to have to go to school is a welcomed one."

Olivia turns her body on the couch to look at Karen and gives her a questioning look, watching as the girl's face suddenly falls, and tears well up in her eyes. Olivia quickly turns to Fitz—who's still parading around with Teddy—and gives him a serious look. "Boys out, it's girl time."

Fitz stops moving and looks over at the way Karen's face is buried into Olivia's shoulder, giving her a worried look. She rubs a hand up and down Karen's back and shoos Fitz away with a single nod of the head.

He reluctantly turns to leave, Teddy still hanging securely over his shoulder. "Homework time Ted, c'mon." And they walk into the kitchen, Teddy groaning at the mention of homework.

"Karen, what happened?" Olivia coaxes when she sees that the boys are finally gone.

Karen keeps her head on Olivia's shoulder for a few more minutes, continuing to cry. She finally picks her head up and looks at Olivia, a few tears still running down her cheeks. "Alex only pretended to like me because of dad."

Olivia brushes the girl's hair out of her face, giving her a sympathetic smile. "What do you mean?"

"He just wanted to say that he hooked up with the president's kid. That's why he was so nice to me. It was all a joke to him—I'm a joke now."

"Karen Grant, you listen to me. You are not a joke. You're sweet, and intelligent, and funny, and beautiful. I know you really liked him, but you can't let Alex's immaturity affect you. He missed out on a spectacular girl, honey; and that's his own doing. He'll see it eventually, and by the time he does, you'll have moved on and hopefully found someone who loves you for you. Someone who loves absolutely everything about you—including the fact that you lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for eight years."

"I should have known. But he just—I just—I thought he was different."

"I know you did, baby girl. But you live and learn, that's what life is all about—learning from your mistakes. And Alex definitely falls into that category now," Olivia says with a small smile, running her fingers through Karen's long brown hair.

"I should have listened to dad. He knew."

"He didn't know, Kare. He's going to feel the way he felt about Alex about every single guy you bring home. And until a guy proves himself, your father won't like him. You're his only baby girl and he doesn't want to see you all grown up just yet."

She gives Olivia a smile. "He wants me to be five years old and still need him to scare away the monster from under my bed."

Olivia nods with a laugh, "That's exactly what he wants. But you need to spread your wings and fly a little on your own to find out that nest will always be your safe place."

Karen smiles at her and rests her head back against Olivia's shoulder. "I know Teddy's the only one who calls you mom sometimes, but Gerry and I—you're the closest thing we have to a mom, or at least a real mom. So maybe sometimes—could I maybe call you that too?"

Olivia closes her eyes, trying to fight the tears from escaping. "You want to call me mom?" she asks after a few seconds, her voice half cracking at the end.

"I mean, if that's ok. We all live with you, well not Gerry anymore—but when he talks about home, he means here and this is where he comes for breaks and holidays—, and you treat us more like sons and a daughter than our mom ever did. So yeah, you're my mom—and I think I'd like to call you that."

Olivia leans down and kisses Karen's forehead, the tears finally starting to roll down her cheeks. "I'd really like that, Kare. I love you and your brothers so much, I don't think it'd be possible to love you guys anymore."

"I love you too, _mom_. I'm so happy you're here forever now."

Olivia chuckles through her tears. "I'm not going anywhere anymore, I promise."

"Good, cause it's not just dad who would be lost without you anymore. Gerry, Teddy, and I would be too."

"You need to stop saying all of these heartwarming things that are making me cry," Olivia says with a wide smile as she presses another kiss to Karen's temple.

"Oh you mean like this? Mom, mom, mom, mom, _mom_!"

"Stop or you're grounded for a week!" Olivia says, not able to stifle a small laugh.

"Mom! I _love_ you, _mom_!"

"I'm sick, you have to be nice to me."

"You're sick because you went on Teddy's fieldtrip—like a true _mom_ would."

"You're a brat Karen Melody Grant. Do you know that?"

"_Mother_-daughter bickering is my new favorite thing, _mom_."

"Go to your room. You're grounded!"

Karen wraps her arms around Olivia's neck, giving her a tight hug. "I will go up to my room, but I'm definitely not grounded, and I still love you _mom_," Karen says as she stands up and walks towards the spiral staircase. She gets halfway up the stairs before she turns back and smiles at Olivia, "Thanks for the talk."

Olivia smiles at her, wiping away the last stray tear from her cheek with the sleeve of her sweater. "Anytime baby girl. And for the record, I love being called your mom."

Karen smiles and nods her head slightly as she continues her way up the stairs. Olivia picks up her glass and soup bowl and brings them into the kitchen, smiling as she sees Fitz and Teddy working on writing his five sentence short story. She places her dishes in the sink and walks over behind Teddy, looking over his shoulder as she rests a hand on Fitz's shoulder. "And how are two of my three favorite Grant boys doing?"

Teddy quickly jerks his head up and flips over his paper before he turns to look back at her. "You can't look yet. It's not finished!"

She throws her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. But can I read it when it's all finished?"

"Duh! It's for you anyway, momma." And he looks down for a few seconds before looking back up at her with red cheeks. "I wasn't supposed to say that," and he looks over to Fitz, "right daddy?"

Fitz shrugs his shoulders, "I think it's okay that you said that. It'll keep her guessing now." And he winks at Teddy before looking up to Liv and giving her a small smile. "Is everything okay with Karen?"

"Yep, crisis averted and daughter comforted," she says with a laugh. "Just don't go mentioning Alex around her anymore."

"Noted." And he stands and wraps her in a hug as Teddy kneels on his chair facing them.

"Momma, can we have cheesy chicken for dinner tonight?" Teddy asks as Olivia walks over to him and lifts him onto her hip.

"Cheesy chicken is a definite possibility, but I think we should add a nice large side of broccoli to it," Olivia says with a smile as she adjusts Teddy on her hip and he throws up his hands in victory. "You're getting so big buddy. How old are you again? Like thirty?"

He laughs. "I'm six and one quarter! Duh."

"Do you know how old I am?" She asks with a smile as she puts him back down.

"I'm not supposed to ask cause you don't ask old people how old they are cause you're usually wrong and you hurt their feelings," Teddy says all in one breath before climbing back up onto his chair.

Both Fitz and Olivia laugh, nodding in agreement. And Fitz gives Olivia another kiss before sitting back down at the kitchen table to help Teddy finish his story. "Good man."

Teddy turns back around to look at Olivia. "So, cheesy chicken night?"

She nods in confirmation. "Cheesy chicken night." And she walks into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator to start getting everything out and ready.

"Hey Livvie, I'll make dinner if you want to go take a quick nap," Fitz offers after he whispers a few words for the story in Teddy's ear.

"Why do you need a nap?" Teddy asks Olivia as he turns around once again.

"She got sick on your fieldtrip a few days ago, bud."

"But no one's sick. Why are you sick?"

She shrugs her shoulders as she puts a glass pan onto the counter. "Maybe you all just have a better immune system than me."

"Maybe it's cause I don't kiss people all the time," Teddy says as he turns back around and faces the table, continuing his work.

Olivia laughs and Fitz turns back to look at her. "Nope, I definitely don't think that's the problem here. The kissing should always continue."

Olivia rounds the kitchen island and presses a kiss to the tops of Teddy's and Fitz's heads, impressed by their matching curls. "Ok, well on that note, I'm going upstairs. I laid everything out, Fitz. Put the oven on three seventy five and bake the chicken for thirty minutes, and then add the extra cheese to the top and put it in for five more minutes."

"I've got it under control. Go take your nap," he says with a smile.

"Okay, I'm going, I'm going," she says as she exits the kitchen and walks up the stairs.

She's awoken about an hour later by Teddy, his face lying in close proximity to her own on the pillow. She moves in and playfully kisses his nose before reaching around and tickling his small body. He shrieks and laughs and kicks until she finally stops, noticing that he's out of breath.

"Is dinner ready?" She asks as he settles into her lap, wrapping his arms around her neck.

He nods and tightens his hold around her, laughing as he wraps his legs around her waist when she stands, still clinging to her small frame. They walk into Karen's room and find her on the computer skyping Gerry from college. Teddy's face lights up and he jumps into Karen's lap so he can be closer to the computer and see his brother better.

Karen wraps her arms around Teddy and presses a kiss to the top of his head. "Hey Ted, Gerry has a surprise for you."

The little boy's face lights up. "What is it? What is it!"

"Do you really want to know?" Gerry asks, laughing as Teddy enthusiastically nods his head. "Well, it has to do with me and with you and with dad and Liv and Karen. And it especially has to do with our house…"

Teddy looks around the room with a wide smile before looking back at the computer. "You're coming home!" He almost shouts, his excitement not able to be contained in his little body.

Gerry nods in confirmation and laughs as he chucks a pillow across his dorm at his roommate who had made a witty comment. Fitz walks into the room a few seconds later, an apron tied around his waist. Olivia and Karen both laugh at him and Teddy jumps off of Karen's lap and into Fitz's arms.

"Daddy! Daddy! Guess what! Gerry's coming home tomorrow! He's gonna be here tomorrow!"

Fitz smiles at his youngest son, "I know bud. Isn't that great?" And he watches as Teddy once again enthusiastically nods his head. "Ok, why don't you say goodbye to Gerry for tonight and go wash your hands for dinner," Fitz says as he places Teddy back to the ground.

"Cheesy chicken is ready?" Teddy asks excitedly and Fitz nods.

"Bye Gerry! See you tomorrow! I love you!" And he runs out of the room and into his bathroom before he can hear Gerry return the message.

"You're having cheesy chicken without me? That's been my favorite since the first time Liv made it on the trail."

Olivia smiles. "I'll save you a nice big plate for when you get home."

"Thanks, Ma. Ok well if dinner's ready then I guess I should let you guys go. I'll probably be home in time tomorrow to surprise the little guy and pick him up from school."

"That sounds great, Gerry. I'm glad you're coming home," Fitz says as he makes his way over to Olivia and wraps his arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer to himself.

"Wait, are you wearing an apron dad? What the hell has Liv done to you these last two years?"

Olivia laughs, "It's not me. It's all your father and his post presidency midlife crisis."

Fitz laughs and kisses Olivia's temple. "I most certainly do not think of my life as a crisis thank you very much. And for your information, your brother asked me to put it on and since I'm a man of the people, I obliged."

Karen smiles, "Our old man is getting soft in his old age."

"I'm not going to stand around and listen to my good name be tarnished," Fitz says with mock seriousness. "I'll see you tomorrow, son. Have a good night and drive safely."

"Alright everyone, see you tomorrow! Oh and hey Kare, you can text me about you-know-what if you want."

Fitz takes a step forward and looks back at Gerry. "Oh no no, there's none of that. What are you two talking about?"

"Don't worry about it dad," Gerry says with a laugh before he ends the call and the screen goes blank.

Fitz looks over to Karen as she stands and starts to exit the room. "What did he mean, Karen?"

She smiles and raises her eyebrows. "Don't worry about it."

"I used to command the best military in the history of the world. I'm sure someone somewhere owes me a favor."

"Are you threatening me with military action if I don't tell you what we were talking about?"

Fitz nods as he starts placing food onto the table. "That is exactly what I'm doing."

Karen moves and places her hands over Teddy's ears, "We were referring to s-e-x," she says, adding exaggeration to each letter.

His face falls. "Wha—what?"

She laughs and walks over to him, "I'm just kidding."

"Don't you ever scare me like that. That is a situation in which I would most certainly call in that favor."

"You would kill a random guy if I told you that I slept with him?" Karen asks as she carries two glasses of water to the table for herself and Teddy.

"Oh no, I would personally show up and kill him. And then I would have my buddies force him to enlist to get him the hell away from you."

"What your father means is, that he loves you and wants you to be safe in _everything_ you do, with _everyone_ you do it with, _every time _you do it. But you can always talk to us. And he also doesn't want or need any details. Ever." Olivia says with a smile as they all sit down for dinner.

"What does Karen do that's not safe?" Teddy asks innocently as he licks the cheese off of his fingers.

Olivia smiles at him as she helps him cut up his chicken. "Sometimes Karen will drive her car without a seatbelt or won't use safety scissors."

Teddy smiles brightly at Karen. "I always use my safe scissors!" And he stabs a piece of chicken with his fork and brings it to his mouth, giving Fitz a thumbs up.

The conversation lulls out for a few moments until Olivia asks about each child's day. Karen skims over her day, hitting the high points and informing her parents that she got an A on her research paper; but Teddy relays every part of his day, from what color his behavior stick stayed on all day to what food he had for lunch and what games he played at recess.

They finish dinner and Fitz does all of the dishes and cleans up the kitchen as Olivia supervises Teddy's bath and helps him get ready for bed. Teddy does his usual nighttime ritual—saying goodnight to each member of the family and reading a book to Olivia to help improve his reading skills. He finishes the book, but much to her surprise he jumps up out of bed and runs downstairs to his backpack by the front door, extracting the paper he had written his short story on. He runs back upstairs and crawls into bed, settling in against Olivia's chest as he starts to read.

_My Special Person by Teddy Grant  
>I got a new mom last year.<br>She is very nice and pretty.  
>She makes our whole family happy.<br>She loves me and I love her.  
>I am very happy that she is my momma now.<em>

Teddy puts the paper down on the bed and looks up at her with a weary smile, awaiting her response. Olivia smiles down at him after a few seconds with a few tears in her eyes. She presses a kiss to Teddy's forehead, "That was beautiful, buddy. Thank you."

"Did you like it?"

She shakes her head no and smiles. "I _loved_ it. And I love you Teddy bear." And she moves off of the bed and pulls the American flag blanket up over the little boy.

She sits back down on the edge of the bed and kisses his forehead again, reaching over to turn on the night light next to his bed.

"Thank you for being my momma."

She brushes the few curls from around his forehead. "Thank you for making me a momma."

He smiles. "You're welcome." And he claps to turn off his light, closing his eyes once it turns off.

She walks out of the room and finds Karen sitting on the ground in the hallway outside of Teddy's door, smiling up at Olivia when she finally notices her presence. "I'm glad Teddy's going to grow up with you around. Having nannies all the time really sucked."

Olivia helps Karen up to her feet and gives her a hug. "Now don't get me wrong, I love it, I really do—but what's with all the mom stuff today?" Olivia asks as they walk down the hall together, arm in arm.

Karen shrugs her shoulders as she moves to sit on her bed. "I don't know. It's just starting to feel like we're one of those normal families, like we're a real family—because of you."

Olivia smiles at her, "I'm glad you feel that way Kare." And she takes a seat on the bed next to Karen. "And about earlier with Gerry, I understand that your father and I and your mother are probably the last three you would bring any problems to, but I just want you to know that you can always come to us with anything. We're always here for you, and nothing is too large or too trivial. Okay?"

Karen nods her head slightly in understanding, and after a few seconds she finally whispers out, "It's just, she hasn't called in almost a month. And when she did, all she wanted to say was that her campaign had a stop up here and she wanted me to go to some tea with her. And I know it's just for the pictures and the press. She doesn't care about me, and she doesn't care about Gerry or Teddy."

"Kare, your mother cares about all three of you and she loves each of you. She just doesn't really know how to show it sometimes, and sometimes she doesn't really get her priorities straight."

"I know. But she just really sucks sometimes. Sometimes I like to imagine that you were always my mom, and when I was little you would have princess tea with me and play with my hair and come to my dance recitals. I wish you were her—and I've wished that since I was like eight and you were on the campaign with dad. Everything was fun back then."

Olivia smiles wistfully. "Well, we're here now. And if you ever want to have princess tea or want me to play with your hair or want to throw an impromptu dance recital in the living room, I'm right here."

Karen smiles. "Thanks."

"And by the way, if you really don't want to go to the tea with your mom then I don't blame you. But I think you should go, I don't want you living with any regrets later in life—especially when it comes to your relationship with your mother."

"I'll think about it," Karen says with a small smile as she crawls across her bed to answer her ringing phone.

Olivia gets up and walks to the door, "Don't stay up too late, please. You've got school in the morning."

Karen nods as she brings the phone up to her ear and answers the call. But she quickly runs over to the door and puts the phone down by her side, hugging Olivia with her free arm before returning to her bed and phone call.

A sudden unexplained wave of nausea runs through Liv's body, and she runs into the master bathroom, barely making it to the toilet. She sits there on her knees for a few minutes, taking deep breaths, trying to settle her stomach; but as soon as she stands, another wave hits her, and she's back hunched over the toilet.

She comes out of the bathroom a while later, finally confident that she's done throwing up, and she walks into Fitz's office—standing at the door, watching him focus on grading papers.

He eventually finishes the one he's working on and looks up at her, instantly noticing the expression on her face. "What are you smiling about?"

She walks into the room further and leans back against his desk, running her fingers through his hair. "So I take it you're feeling a little better?"

She nods with a smile. "I feel much, much, much better. Perfect even."

"And are you going to tell me why?" He asks as he tosses his red pen onto the desk and pulls her into his lap.

"I'll give you a hint," she says seductively as she leans in and brings her lips to his.

"Teddy isn't sick," she says with a small smile once she's pulled away. "And neither are Karen or you. Or apparently anyone in Teddy's class for that matter."

"Okay?" he says as he leans in to steal another kiss.

"I'm the only one who's sick…" she says leaving it opened for him to catch on, but he still doesn't.

"For a Rhode's scholar, a Harvard educated lawyer, a man with his PhD, and a former leader of the free world, sometimes you're such a typical oblivious man," she says with a laugh as she pecks his lips. She brings both of her hands up to cup his cheeks and looks him in the eye, "I don't have the flu. Teddy's class didn't get me sick—you got me sick. I'm pregnant."

His face lights up and wide smile spreads across it. "Really?"

She nods. "Really." And she removes a hand from his cheek to bring one of his hands up to her flat abdomen, snaking it under her shirt and pressing it against her warm skin. "There's a baby in there. We're having a baby."

He smiles. "When did you find out?"

"About five minutes ago. I was sprawled out across the bathroom floor and saw a few stray pills behind the vanity, and it got me thinking, so I took a test. And here we are."

He leans in and captures her lips with his own, pulling her closer to himself with one arm as he leaves his other hand pressed up against her abdomen. They finally break apart, and he looks up at her—joy and surprise and elation all playing across his facial features, but the only emotion she sees in his eyes is love.

"We're having a baby," he says slowly after a few seconds, trying to let the realization sink it.

"We're having a baby," she repeats with a wide smile.

"I love you so much, Livvie."

"I love you too, so very much."

And the both look back down at her stomach, both unconsciously smiling, both excited beyond their wildest dreams.

"Hi baby, it's _Mommy_."

* * *

><p><strong>Well?<strong>


	2. Daddy

**Well, this was originally going to be a one shot, but by popular demand I'm back with more. I mean who am I kidding? I just can't seem to stay away. I'm thinking about a four or five shot for this one, so be on the lookout for more. **

* * *

><p>"You're gonna be there tonight, right?" Teddy asks, shoveling a rather large spoonful of cereal into his mouth as Olivia hurriedly walks past him and into the kitchen—dropping a quick kiss on top of his short brown curls.<p>

"I wouldn't miss your show for the world, bud," she replies with a comforting smile as she tightens the lid on her thermos of coffee and takes a small sip of the dark brown liquid.

Fitz comes waltzing into the kitchen with Karen on his heels, the teenage girl still begging for a curfew extension so she can go out with friends after Teddy's play. Karen sits at the table next to Teddy with her own bowl of cereal and Fitz continues over to Olivia—leaning in to give her a small peck on the lips, but he quickly pulls back and gives her a disapproving look when he tastes the coffee on her.

She gives him a small smile and leans in to kiss him again, whispering against his lips, "It's decaf, I swear."

Karen looks over to her parents in the kitchen and once she swallows the food in her mouth, she calls out, "Can you two focus on something other than each other for like two seconds?"

Olivia breaks free from Fitz's embrace and walks over to where the two kids are sitting, leaning against the table. "You've got my full and undivided attention. Now what's the matter?"

"Can you please explain to dad that me staying out like twenty minutes past curfew isn't that big of a deal and that I'm almost eighteen, not eight?"

Olivia gives her stepdaughter a sympathetic look and then turns back to look at Fitz who's conveniently not meeting her gaze. She rolls her eyes at him and slowly turns back around, "I don't see why—what'd you say? Twenty minutes?—I don't see why that should pose a problem. But I have this distinct feeling that twenty minutes is not what you asked your father for, now is it?"

Karen slowly shakes her head and meets Fitz's gaze as he walks over to the table to deliver breakfast to Olivia. Olivia sits in the chair next to where she was leaning and smiles as Fitz kisses her cheek and looks at Karen, "Don't let her fool you Livvie, she asked for almost two hours so I told her twelve thirty."

"That's not fair! Gerry stays out all night and I can't even stay out past midnight."

Teddy looks up from his list of spelling words and turns to look over at Karen. "And he gots in big trouble for that!"

Olivia nods with a laugh, "That he did, Teddy bear. And I think twelve thirty is pretty reasonable. You're still in high school and nothing good happens out after midnight, baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Karen somewhat screams as she stands and pushes her chair back from the kitchen table.

Fitz looks over at her and gives her a menacing look. "Don't you dare raise your voice at anyone in this house, Karen. And if you keep pushing it, I'm just going to say no to you going out altogether."

She looks over at Olivia and gives her an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry." And she grabs her empty bowl and puts it in the sink as she looks up at her father, "Fine."

He hands her a brown paper bag and kisses the top of her head, "Have a good day at school. I love you," he says in a faux happy voice with a wink and a wide smile.

Karen rolls her eyes and accepts the bag, kissing his cheek before walking back to the table. She gathers her few books and purse and gives Olivia a small hug and ruffles Teddy's hair as she walks out of the dining room toward the front door.

Teddy looks over at Olivia, "She's always so grumpy."

Olivia laughs and picks up the paper in front of Teddy, "Are you ready?" He nods with a mouth full of cereal and starts spelling out each word that she gives him.

"Alright Teddy, it looks like you've got them all," Olivia says with a smile once she's finished running through the list. She checks her watch, not realizing how late it had gotten. "Go grab your backpack, we need to head out." And she carries their dishes over to the sink, smiling as Fitz wraps his arms around her from behind—resting his hands against her flat abdomen.

She turns in his arms and wraps her own arms around his neck, smiling against his lips as he leans in to kiss her. She eventually pulls away from him and gives him a coy smile. "Maybe you should have let her stay out all night. We could have had a little fun."

"What kind of fun are we talking? Just regular fun or sexy fun? Because it isn't too late for me to text her."

She laughs leans in to kiss him again. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"You're such a tease, Olivia Pope."

"Hey, that's Olivia Pope-Grant to you, mister."

"This Grant guy is a very lucky man, Ms. Pope. I hope he treats you right."

She leans in and pecks his lips one last time, "He does indeed. And for the record, I see him getting pretty lucky tonight."

Teddy walks back into the kitchen with his buzz light year backpack slung over his shoulder, holding his hands out waiting for his lunch. Fitz hands him the Toy Story themed lunch box and straightens the collar on his uniform shirt. "You have a good day at school today, Abe Lincoln. I'll see you tonight at the play."

He bends down and gives Teddy a hug goodbye. "Don't be late, Daddy. It wouldn't be very presidential." And the little boy runs over to the front door, waiting for Olivia.

Fitz stands back up and hands Olivia a brown paper bag with a fresh thermos of coffee. "I cannot believe the way these children speak to me. No respect," he says with a laugh and disapproving nod as he moves in to kiss her goodbye.

"Life is so tough for you, Mr. President," she says playfully as she cups his cheek before turning to walk over to Teddy.

He quickly grabs her arm and pulls her back to himself. "All I'm saying is, this baby better learn some manners."

She smiles. "Well that can be your job. You can teach him or her your presidential etiquette." And she leans in to straighten his tie and kiss him one last time, breaking away as Teddy calls out for her from the front door. "I'll see you tonight."

* * *

><p>"She'll be here Ted, she's probably just running a little late," Karen says as she straightens the top hat on her little brother's head, trying to calm his nerves.<p>

"She should be here. All the other moms are here," Teddy says in a somewhat dejected voice, his spirits clearly falling with each passing minute Olivia doesn't walk backstage.

Karen sits him down on a stool in front of one of the many mirrors and keels down to be at eye level with him. "Did mom promise that she'd be here?"

He nods but doesn't meet her gaze.

"Then she'll be here," Karen says with a small smile as she playfully pinches his side. "I'm gonna go sit down now. You'll be great Teddy bear! I'll see you after." And she gives him a quick hug before walking back to the front of the school auditorium to find her seat.

Teddy stays seated on the stool, not really focused on any of the commotion going on around back stage. Moms and teachers are running around searching for lost costume accessories and rehearsing lines with their kids for last minute memorizations, but Teddy just sits there quietly to himself staring at his feet.

His teacher calls out a five minute warning, and he's about to go run and hide in one of the bathrooms or another secluded room when he hears a familiar voice behind him. "Hey honest Abe, can I try on that cool hat?"

He spins around with a wide smile on his face and walks into Olivia's open arms, locking his own arms securely around her neck. He pulls away and she straightens out his hat and thin black tie. "Are you ready?"

He nods in affirmation before adding a faint, "I thought you weren't gonna come."

She crouches back down and looks him in the eye. "Did I promise you that I'd be here?" And he nods.

"Do I usually ever break my promises when it comes to you or Karen or Gerry?"

He nods again with a smile and he giggles as she wraps him in her arms and picks him up and spins him around. She kisses his forehead and puts him back on his feet, brushing her hand over the small wrinkles on his jacket.

"I love you buddy. Break a leg, and I know you're going to be the second best Abe Lincoln out there."

Teddy looks up at her with a smile and cocks his head. "Who's the first best?"

She laughs and pats his hat, "The original of course. But you're going to be a very close second, I can tell."

He smiles and looks over to his teacher as she calls his name, noticing that all of the other moms have started to go and take their seats.

Olivia smiles at him, "I'm going to go sit down now, and if you can spot us in the crowd, I think you'll really enjoy the surprise we have for you."

His face lights up at the mention of a surprise and he gives her another small hug before running over to join his classmates.

Olivia makes her way over to their seats and sits down in between Fitz and Karen, leaning forward a few inches to look at Gerry. "He has no idea that you're here," she says to him with a smile.

"Good, I can't wait to see his face when he sees me," Gerry says with a small laugh.

Fitz stretches his arm around Olivia's shoulders and pulls her close to himself. "Maybe it'll look something like mind did," he says with a laugh of his own.

Karen looks over at Gerry, "Yeah, how'd you not tell any of us that you were coming?"

"If you would have asked I would have told you. Liv was the only one to ask, so she's the only one who knew," he says smiling over at Olivia.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Fitz says as he playfully pushes Gerry's shoulder with a laugh.

Olivia snuggles her head onto Fitz's shoulder as the lights finally dim and the kids come processing out on stage. They can instantly spot Teddy in the darkness because of his top hat and Fitz laughs as he notices its crooked posture.

"They should have let him be me, I never wore a silly hat while in office," he whispers to Olivia.

"This play isn't about the presidents of your era, Fitzgerald. And plus, it'd be a sin to cover all that nice hair with a hat."

"Oh so you like my hair?" He asks with a cheeky smile that doesn't go unnoticed by Olivia in the darkness.

"Nah, not really," she replies with a laugh as both of them are shushed by Karen.

They intently watch the remainder of the show, impressed by the ability of Teddy's first grade class and all of the kids in general. Teddy's class eventually finishes their portion of the play and exits the stage, making way for the older classes to perform. The play finally ends with all of the classes singing the national anthem and they all take a bow as they receive a standing ovation.

Olivia goes back stage to help Teddy gather his belongings and get changed, and Fitz stands with Gerry and Karen by the front of the stage, talking to other parents as they wait.

Teddy and Olivia emerge from backstage a few minutes later, and the second Teddy lays eyes on Gerry he takes off running toward him, launching himself into his brother's arms with an excited squeal.

"Gerry's home! Gerry's home! Gerry's home! This is the best day ever," Teddy declares as they walk out toward the parking lot together, a wide smile on each family member's face.

Fitz lifts Teddy's backpack from Olivia's shoulder as they approach their cars, and after he tosses it into the trunk he looks over at Teddy, "I know it's getting late but how'd you like to stop for ice cream on the way home?"

Teddy's face lights up once again and he excitedly nods, "This really is the best day ever! Can I drive with Gerry?"

Fitz hesitates for a moment, knowing that his excitement will be a distraction and temptation—but he relents after considering the short length of the drive and the fact that he'll be close behind. "Sure," he says with a smile. "Be careful."

The boys get into Gerry's car and Karen turns toward he father, "I'm not going to go out tonight. I'll go get ice cream with you guys."

Fitz wraps his arm around Karen's shoulders and presses a soft kiss to the top of her head, "You don't know how happy that makes me, Karen. I'll even buy you an extra scoop," he says with a laugh as she steps out of his embrace and over to Gerry's car.

"I'm gonna ride with the boys," she says as she opens the passenger side door.

"Okay, we'll see you in a few," Fitz calls back as he opens the door for Olivia and then quickly walks around to the other side of the car, following Gerry out of the parking lot to their usual ice cream spot.

Olivia looks over and smiles at the smile on Fitz's face, taking his hand. "You look happy, handsome."

"Do I look handsome and happy?" he asks with a cheeky smile as they pull onto the highway.

"Well, I don't want to stroke that ego of yours any more than I already have, but I also would rather not lie."

"That's a yes," he says with a laugh as he passes Gerry's car, laughing at Karen's and Teddy's faces smushed up against the window.

Olivia looks over and playfully sticks her tongue out at them as they pass by. "I really do love those kids so much."

He looks over at her with a smile and lets his hand instinctually fall to its natural position on her thigh. "Can we tell them?"

She arches and eyebrow and leans in a few inches closer to him. "About the baby?"

He nods and she takes a moment to consider. "I just—I don't want to get anyone's hopes up or hurt anyone's feelings. What we've got going now is good, and I don't want to jinx any of it."

"What? Like telling them is going to make everything come crashing to a halt?"

She takes a breath, trying to find the right words. "It's just that, telling them makes it all real. And we've been waiting for this moment and this baby for almost a decade—and throughout these last ten years the universe has pretty much screwed us over every chance it got. And now we're old Fitz, something could go wrong. Nothing is ever perfect for us—and I really, really want this experience and this baby to be perfect. I don't want to tempt fate."

He picks up her hand and lays a soft kiss on the back it. "Liv, the doctor said everything looks fine. You and the baby are both normal and healthy, and everything's progressing as it should be. If you keep your stress level down and eat properly, there's no reason for everything not to work out perfectly. We're getting our baby, Livvie. He or she is coming in six months—and telling or not telling the kids tonight is not going to change that. We are finally getting our baby, Liv."

She finally looks over at him after a few seconds of silence and slowly nods her head. "Okay."

He looks over at her as they exit the highway and approach a red light. "Okay?"

She gives him a weak smile and nods again, "Okay we can tell them."

He brings the hand up from her thigh and moves it over to her flat abdomen as he leans in to kiss her—whispering against her lips as she breaks their kiss in favor of air, "We're having a baby."

She smiles and kisses his cheek as he moves to continue driving. "We're finally having our baby."

"So," Fitz starts as they exit the car and walk hand in hand up to the little hole in the wall ice cream parlor that they had stumbled upon when they first moved to Vermont, "We're telling them?"

She nods slightly with a small smile, "We're telling them." And she smiles as Fitz opens the door and Teddy excitedly waves them over, scooting over in the booth to make room for them.

"We just ordered but I wasn't sure what you guys wanted," Gerry casually says as he puts his phone on the table and hands them each a small menu.

A waitress quickly comes over and takes their orders, timidly asking for a quick autograph which Fitz happily signs for the older woman with a bright smile. Their ice cream is delivered a few minutes later and much to Fitz and Olivia's surprise each child's order is twice its normal size. They quickly dig in—Fitz periodically reaching over to steal a few spoonfuls of Teddy's ice cream, the whole table laughing at his attempt at hostile protests.

The conversation dies out after a few minutes and Fitz looks over at Olivia, feeling that this is the perfect opportunity to share their news with the kids. Olivia laces their fingers together and rests their hands on her leg, taking a deep breath before she begins.

"So guys, your father and I kind of have something to share with you guys?" She says softly, and Gerry, Karen, and Teddy all look up from their bowls.

"Am I getting a lizard?" Teddy asks with pleading eyes and an excited smile.

Fitz laughs, "I thought you were asking Santa for a hamster?"

"Well," he starts—moving his index finger up to the corner of his mouth. He pauses for a few moments before continuing, "Hamsters are cool and all but I really want a lizard. Do you think Santa can bring lizards?"

"Oh no no, lizards are gross. I am so not living in a house with a lizard," Karen interrupts before taking another bite of her ice cream.

"Hey Ted, if Santa doesn't bring you a lizard this year, I'll get you one. You'll just have to promise to let it go visit Auntie Karen every once in awhile," Gerry says—laughing at the glare and soft punch he receives from Karen.

"Cool," Teddy says with a smile as he looks back down at the bowl in front of him.

"As Liv was saying," Fitz says once he's cleared his throat, "we have something pretty exciting to share with you all."

The three kids look back up at Olivia and Fitz expectantly, and Olivia gives them a nervous smile before she lets out, "We're having a baby."

"Really?" Gerry asks with a wide smile and Fitz nods—returning the grin.

Teddy looks up at Olivia, "I get to be a big brother?" And when she nods in affirmation he springs up and wraps his arms around her neck, almost restricting her breathing with the firmness of his hug. "This is the best day ever!" He says once he's settled back in his seat, finishing his ice cream while Fitz and Olivia are distracted.

Karen takes a few moments to react, but eventually a small smile spreads across her face. "It better be a girl. I'm going to need someone to tag team with against the lizard brothers over there."

Olivia smiles and leans into Fitz's side, "Well no promises there, but in the mean time I'll be an integral member of 'team no lizard.'"

"Y'all are still outnumbered three to two," Gerry says with a taunting smile as they finish up and go to pay the bill.

"Yeah well, I get an extra vote now and I hereby grant it to Karen," Olivia says as she wraps an arm around Karen's shoulders as they walk out of the ice cream parlor.

"Hey that's not fair," Teddy starts in protest as they near the cars.

Gerry looks down at his younger brother, "Ted, I think you're old enough to learn this now—life isn't fair, especially with girls. And if you want to survive and thrive in this life, you'll just let them be right and win."

He pouts as he climbs into the back of Gerry's car. "But I want a lizard."

"I'll get you a stuffed one and you can put that imagination of yours to good use," Olivia says as she closes the door for Teddy, adding a quick, "Buckle up," as the door closes.

She and Fitz get in the car and once again follow Gerry back to their house, both all smiles and feeling happier than they've felt in a long time.

"That went well," Fitz says as they pull into their driveway and walk into the house together.

She smiles and moves up on her tip toes to lay a soft kiss on his lips. "It did."

"I love you," he says as he takes her hand and leads her up the stairs after saying goodnight to Gerry and Karen who decided to stay up and watch a movie on the couch.

"I love you more," she says as he picks her up and throws her over his shoulder when they reach the top of the stairs—giggling as he hurriedly walks her down the hall and into their large master bedroom.

He lays her on the bed and crawls on top of her, kissing her soundly for a few moments before snaking a hand down and slowly lifting her shirt. He moves down her body and presses a sweet kiss to her flat abdomen.

"Hey baby, it's _daddy_. I love you."

* * *

><p><strong>If y'all have any ideas or requests for a one shot, send them my way and I'll see what I can do.<strong>


	3. Right

"And where do you think you're going?" Fitz asks with a smile and a hint of amusement in his voice as Olivia slowly meanders into his office—dressed head to toe in a new tracksuit. She walks right over to him and effectively places herself in between him and the stack of papers on his desk.

He coaxes her into his lap and wraps his arms around her, letting a hand fall onto her ever-growing baby bump. She smiles up at him and leans in to press a sweet kiss to his temple.

"Want to accompany me on my run?" She asks as she softly runs her fingers through his hair.

"I hate running," he says, raising his eyebrows slightly at her, "and so do you."

She nods a little and lets out a burst of air. "I know, but it's so boring around here without the kids. I'm bored. And I miss them."

"A month down in North Carolina with Mellie is much, much too long," he says, and she nods. "We could try our hands at picking out a name again," he adds with a smile, enjoying the half frown that spreads across her face.

"I said I was bored, not looking to start another fight."

"We're going to have to pick one eventually. She can't be called baby Grant for her entire life now, Liv."

Olivia playfully wags her pointer finger in his face, "First of all she would be baby Pope-Grant, and second, it worked in _Dirty Dancing_—and look how successful that turned out to be."

"Her actual name wasn't Baby, Livvie, it was Frances. Are you suggesting that we should name our daughter Frances, Olivia?" Fitz says dramatically, his lips turned upward into a slight smile.

"No I am not, Fitzgerald," she says in her own faux serious tone, lightly hitting his shoulder.

He moves in and whispers against her lips, "Good." She continues to run her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp as he captures her lips within his own and gives her a slow, sensual kiss.

She pulls away with a wide smile on her face—her eyes slow to reopen—and brushes the lone curl from his forehead. "I'm going for my run now."

"I know another way for you to get some exercise and curb your boredom," he says as he leans in again and brings his lips to hers.

"Mmm as much as I would enjoy that, you have reports to read, and I need some fresh air."

"We could go out on the back deck and get in the hot tub—there's fresh air for you out there," he says, placing soft kisses to her neck.

"We could, but I don't know how Sally would feel about soggy reports. That would probably be a breach in national security or something."

He laughs and kisses her temple, tightening his arms around her as she tries to stand. He presses his face into the crook of her neck and whines, "No please don't go."

"You're worse than Teddy with the whining," she says with a disapproving laugh, finally able to remove herself from his hold.

He grabs her hand and tries to pull her back to himself but she doesn't budge. "Livvie, stay with me. These stupid things are slowly killing me," he says with a motion down to the mountainous stack of white papers on his desk.

"Then come for a run with me."

"That sounds even worse than this," he says with a exasperated sigh, laying his head down on one of the smaller stacks of papers that are sitting in front of him on the desk—softly hitting his head on them a few times.

She pulls her hand free from his grasp and walks over to the door laughing to herself. "Oh you better learn to suck it up, and quick. We're not going to have room for two babies in this house."

He picks his head up and looks over at her from across the room, "Technically we have room for up to five babies—six if we can manage to finally kick Gerry out for good."

"No one is getting kicked out. And the only way you're getting four more babies is if this little girl magically morphs herself into quintuplets," Olivia says as she brings a hand down and places it over her abdomen.

"I do believe in magic, my dear Livvie," Fitz calls out to her as she turns to leave the room, giving him a patronizing wave as she exits and walks down the hall towards the staircase.

He hears the front door open and then shut again a few moments later, and he forces himself to go back to reading the mountain of security counsel reports Sally had asked him to take a look at earlier in the week. He quickly gets caught up in the multiple pages of classified information and doesn't really register the fact that Olivia had returned from her run until he hears glass shatter against the tile floor.

He calls out Olivia's name and asks if she's ok, and when she doesn't respond, he pushes his chair back from the desk and flies down the hall, descending the steps quicker than he had ever before. He finds her in the kitchen frozen in place, shards of glass and a puddle of water surrounding her. The look of fear on her face takes his breath away and he quickly moves to her, not really taking into account the pieces of glass that lie all around the kitchen floor.

"Olivia, what's the matter?" He asks somewhat in panic as he finally reaches her and guides her over to sit down on a nearby stool at the island.

"Something's wrong. I should—I shouldn't have gone. I shouldn't have pushed it. I was stupid and ran too far and pushed too hard and now something's wrong," she says all in one breath with tears starting to build up in her eyes.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" he asks—still in a state of panic.

"I don't know! I felt something, and it's not right. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she breathes out as the tears begin to stream down her face.

"Felt what? Like a gut feeling? Or are you in pain? What hurts?" he asks as he brushes the sweaty strands of hair from her forehead and wipes the few tears from her cheek.

"Nothing hurts—it's, it's," and she stutters for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath, but then she finally reaches out and grabs his hand and brings it to the center of her swollen stomach, "it's that. Something's wrong."

A wide smile spreads across his face after a few moments when he realizes what's actually happening, and he brings his free hand to cup her cheek—leaning in to kiss her forehead. "Livvie," he says slowly, "nothing's wrong. She's kicking; our little girl is kicking."

She looks up at him in shock, the fear in her eyes beginning to dissolve as a grin spreads across her face. "She's kicking?"

He nods and brings the hand that's cupping her cheek down to her stomach, effectively covering the entire baby bump. He kisses her forehead again before leaning his against hers, "Baby girl is kicking."

"Something's not wrong," she smiles and he shakes his head.

"Nothing's wrong. Everything's perfect. She's going to be perfect."

Olivia smiles and brings both of her hands to cup his cheeks, "She already is."

And they stay like that for a few more minutes, both enjoying the short fluttery kicks and the newfound interaction with their unborn daughter. But eventually the kicking stops just as abruptly as it had started and Fitz goes off in search of a broom, leaving Olivia sitting safely on the stool.

He quickly gets the glass cleaned up, periodically shooting Olivia mischievous glances and suggestive smiles while he sweeps. She returns his looks with a small grin and gently pulls her bottom lip in between her teeth, crossing her legs and placing her hand wide over her abdomen. He finally gets all of the glass thrown away and then moves over to stand behind Olivia, leaning his himself down to place a few feather light kisses to her neck as he wraps his arms around her middle.

She reaches an arm behind her and runs her fingers through his hair, letting out a soft moan as he continues his ministrations. "Mmm, Fitz, stop. I'm sweaty and gross," she finally breathes out after a few moments.

"You're beautiful," he whispers against her neck, "Always. You're always beautiful."

He finally spins her around on the stool and reattaches his lips to hers, kissing her soundly for a few minutes. She pulls away breathless—her arms wrapped around his neck—as her phone begins to ring. Fitz looks over to the phone on the counter and groans, walking over to retrieve it for her.

She looks at the name on the screen and mouths "Karen" to him with a slight shrug of her shoulders as she slides her finger across the illuminated screen and brings it u to her ear. "Hello?"

"Well? What's the verdict?" Karen asks eagerly, Gerry's and Teddy's excited chatter able to be heard in the background.

Olivia smiles up at Fitz as she answers the question the whole family had been anticipating for nearly three months, "Well, I hope you guys like pink and cute little bows because she's a girl."

"I knew it!" Teddy says as Karen excitedly yells into the phone, and Olivia places it on speaker, laying it onto the counter as she walks into Fitz's open arms, resting her head against his chest—a smile on both of their faces.

"Congratulations mom and dad, I can't wait to meet her," Gerry says once the celebration on their end of the phone settles down.

"We can't either, bud," Olivia says as Fitz lays a sweet kiss to the top of Olivia's head.

"Hey dad, on a scale of one to ten how excited we you when you found out?"

"That scale doesn't go up high enough, baby girl," Fitz says, wrapping his arm a little tighter around Olivia.

"He made us stop to pick up a few things for her on the way home if that serves as any indication for you," Olivia says with a laugh as she moves out of his embrace and over to a cabinet to get a glass—filling it with ice water from the refrigerator.

"Typical," Gerry says with a laugh and both Teddy and Karen agree.

"I can't wait until we all come home. I miss you both so much," Karen says as she takes the phone off of speaker and walks out of the room where Teddy and Gerry were playing some new videogame.

"We miss you too, Kare. How was dinner last night?" Olivia asks, and Fitz gives her a curious look.

"It was perfect. I think I really like him mom."

"That's great, Karen. I'm happy to hear you're enjoying yourself." Olivia looks over at the frown on Fitz's face and tries to stifle a laugh, reaching out to cup his cheek—mouthing "it's fine" to him when his frown doesn't disappear.

"He's taking me to a bonfire tonight with some of his friends from the lacrosse team," Karen says, a smile clearly able to be heard in her voice.

Fitz's face falls, "Wha—what? Is this still that Jason kid?"

Karen laughs into the phone, "Yes daddy. I promise you'll meet him sometime soon. I think you'll really like him."

"Oh I'm not so sure about that one Karen. You should see his face right now," Olivia says with a smile, brushing his hair back affectionately.

"He's pretty great, daddy. Even Gerry seems to like him," Karen retorts with a proud smile.

"I'm sure he's just perfect, Kay. I bet he even has nice hair and a pretty boy smile and dreamy eyes," Fitz says with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Olivia lightly punches his shoulder and Karen chuckles. "You're one to talk. I've seen pictures of you in college, Dad."

"I am not at liberty to discuss any of that, my dear. And on that note, I will talk to you later."

"Alright daddy, I love you. You better take good care of mom and my baby sister until I get back."

"No doubt, Kare. I love you," he says before kissing Olivia's temple and walking out of the kitchen.

Olivia takes the phone off of speaker and walks out to the living room, sitting on the couch as she continues to listen to Karen discuss her newfound relationship with both Jason and Mellie. She hangs up the phone and curls herself up in a blanket on the couch, slowly drifting off to sleep as she reads a baby book Fitz had insisted they pick up after their first doctor's appointment.

Fitz walks down the steps a while later, smiling as he notices Olivia asleep on the couch—an unconscious hand resting across her baby bump. He walks over and covers her fully with the blanket, pressing a kiss to her forehead before going into the kitchen to make dinner.

She wakes up to the smell of food wafting throughout the house from the kitchen, and she smiles to herself when she hears Fitz singing as dishes clank away. She gets slowly gets up and folds the blanket, placing it on the back of the couch before quietly making her way to the kitchen.

"Now isn't that a sight," she says with a smile, leaning up against the edge of the counter as she watches him bent over—head in the oven.

He closes to over and turns around to look at her with a cheesy grin on his face, "And it's all for you, baby."

"I'm a very lucky woman," she admits and walks over closer to him, allowing him to place her on top of the counter and kiss her slowly. She wraps her legs around him, smiling against his lips as she pulls away. She brings his hand up to cover her abdomen, and a smile spreads across his face when he realizes why.

"Wow, she's an active little one," he says with pride.

"And she loves her daddy," Olivia says with a smile as she presses her hand on top of Fitz's, leaning in to kiss him again.


	4. Grace

She walks down the crowded hallway buzzing with excited voices and adorned with colorful turkey hands and funny-faced pilgrim decorations and moves past child after child, giving them each a kind smile as she politely nods to the parents walking them out. She makes it to the door of the first grade classroom and peeks through the small window, smiling as she sees Teddy sitting around a table with a few other kids coloring a large sign. She places a hand over her very swollen abdomen, her own futile attempt to settle the strong kicks the baby had been delivering all morning, and walks inside the classroom, pausing to speak with Teddy's teacher before she makes her presence known to him.

"Hello Mrs. Grant," she greets with a smile, "it's great to see you. Teddy is ready to go, I'll just go make sure he's all packed up. "

Olivia smiles at the older woman, "Oh that's fine, he can keep coloring for a few more minutes. We really have nowhere to be today."

"Resting up before the big turkey feast tomorrow?" Ms. Carter asks with a raised eyebrow as she starts straightening the piles of paper on her desk.

"Resting is all Fitz allows me to do these days," Olivia says with a laugh, "he left yesterday to go pick up Karen from Cornell and gave one of the agents very specific instructions about what I'm actually allowed to do. I surprised 'pick up Teddy from school' was even on the list."

"Sounds just like my husband. Just remember it's all coming from a place of love, and make sure to milk the extra work he's doing once your little one arrives," she say, placing a kind hand on Olivia's shoulder with a wink before turning to greet the father who had just walked through the door.

Olivia considers the older woman's words as she walks over to Teddy, laying her own hand on his shoulder. He spins around and smiles when he sees her, "Momma!" And he quickly stands up on his chair to give her a hug.

"Whatcha drawing little man?" Olivia asks after she presses a kiss to the top of his head.

"A turkey with sunglasses cause he's cool," Teddy says with a proud smile as he holds the paper up for her to get a better look.

"Wow Ted, that's pretty great. I think I know the perfect place on the refrigerator for it," she says as she helps him slip on his backpack, and they walk out of the school together, Teddy telling her all about the birthday celebration his class threw for him.

"Are Karen and Daddy home yet?" Teddy asks as Olivia pulls into their empty driveway and turns off the car.

"Not yet, buddy. But they should be home by dinner time tonight. And Gerry should be home a little bit later," she responds as she slowly starts to maneuver her way out of the car, following Teddy up to the front door with his drawing in her hand.

"I want them to be here already," he says with a small pout as he kicks off his shoes and drops his backpack by the front door.

"I know you do, Ted. Me too. But they'll all be here right in time for your birthday tomorrow," she says as she shrugs off her coat and she reaches out and takes his, hanging them up together. "Why don't you go put your backpack up in your room and change out of your uniform and I'll make us a quick snack."

"Alright," he says as he picks up his backpack and starts walking off towards the stairs, but he turns as he finally reaches them, "Can I have popcorn?"

"I think popcorn is a definite possibility," Olivia says with a nod of the head and a smile before walking off towards the direction of the kitchen to make their snack.

Teddy comes down the stairs a few minutes later dressed in his favorite t shirt and jeans and climbs up onto one of the stools at the kitchen island, reaching into the bowl residing there and grabbing a large handful of warm popcorn.

"Lemonade or water?" Olivia asks as she turns and holds up both choices from inside the refrigerator.

Teddy quickly points to the lemonade as he shovels another handful of popcorn in his mouth. Olivia closes the refrigerator door and his face partially falls when he doesn't see his new drawing on it, but he quickly recovers before she has a chance to notice.

"Can we watch _Cars_ now?" Teddy asks as Olivia places the cup of lemonade in front of him and takes a handful of popcorn for herself.

"I'm going to go up and finish putting everything in the nursery away, but you can watch it," Olivia says as she turns around and grabs a bottle of water for herself from the refrigerator, not noticing how Teddy's face falls again. He mumbles an ok as he slides off of the stool and takes his drink and the bowl of popcorn into the living room.

Olivia walks into the living room a few minutes later on her way to the stairs and finds him watching the movie. She affectionately runs her fingers through his soft curls as she passes the couch and walks up towards the nursery.

She finishes folding all of the new clothes she and Fitz had just received from family and friends and gets them all put away in the small dresser drawers. Then she moves into Karen's and Gerry's rooms and makes their beds and straightens up before going into her own room to put away all of the clothes she and Teddy had folded the night before.

She's standing in their large walk in closet hanging up the last of Fitz's dress shirts when she stumbles upon a few presents for Teddy that they had hid a few months ago. She smiles to herself when she remembers their trip to the pet store and how his eyes lit up when he saw some colorful fish darting around their tanks. She quickly gets the fish bowl and its accessories wrapped and goes back downstairs just as Teddy's movie is ending and she sits on the couch next to him, slightly upset when he doesn't immediately acknowledge her presence. He doesn't make eye contact with her and nonchalantly moves away from her on the couch, but the movement doesn't go unnoticed by Olivia.

"Teddy, is there something bothering you?" She asks cautiously after a few seconds.

"No," he mumbles as he searches the blanket on the couch for the remote.

"Teddy," she tries again, "would you tell me if something was?"

He stops his searching and sits still for a few seconds, contemplating an answer, but he continues to look down at his lap.

"Teddy," she says gently, "talk to me bud."

He finally looks up at her, a sad expression written across his face. "Are you still gonna be my momma after the baby comes?"

Her face falls slightly and she gives him a sympathetic look, opening her arms for him to crawl into. "Of course I will be, Teddy. Nothing and no one could ever change that."

He hesitantly crawls over to her and she wraps her arms tightly around his small body, trying to give him any semblance of comfort and reassurance she can.

He slowly picks up his head from her shoulder, "Are you going to love her more than me?"

She softly runs a hand through his curls and looks him directly in the eye, "No, bud. Teddy I want you to listen to me, there is not a single person in this world who will be able to change my love for you, or Karen, or Gerry—not this baby or any other future babies or anyone, okay?"

Teddy looks down quickly and then back up at her, taking a moment to consider her words before nodding his head slowly, leaning in again to lay his head on her chest. She presses a kiss to the top of his head and they sit like that on the couch for a few minutes, Teddy snuggled tightly in between her and the back of the couch.

"Have you been feeling like this for a while?" Olivia asks gently as she looks down at him.

He shrugs his shoulders and looks away from her. "I heard you and daddy talking one night about how she's your special miracle baby and how happy you are to get to be a momma, but you're already my momma and I want you to be my momma forever."

Olivia takes a deep breath and looks back down at Teddy, meeting his tear-filled eyes. "Oh Teddy, I will always be your momma—nothing's ever going to change that buddy, I promise. I'm sorry you overheard daddy and me, but we've been waiting for you little sister for a very long time and now that she's finally real and almost here, we couldn't be more excited. But having her will by no means affect how we feel about you, having her won't replace you or make us love you any less. You'll always be my little Teddy bear and snuggle bug, and I will always love you." She gently shifts him in her arms and presses a soft kiss to his temple, gently running her fingers through his hair.

He eventually looks up at her and gives her a small smile, the tears in his eyes gone. "I love you, momma," and he cautiously brings one of his small hands down to her stomach and places it in the center, "And I love her too."

Olivia smiles down at him but quickly arches her eyebrows at the peculiar look that spreads across Teddy's face, "What's up, bud?"

"Does that feel funny to you?" He asks, referring to the baby's kicking.

She nods her head with a smile and moves his hand a little higher, right over to where she can feel the strongest kicks, "It used to, but now I'm pretty used to it."

"That's so cool," he says with wonder in his voice, watching her stomach as he sees a small outline of the baby's foot present itself every once in a while. He eventually tears his gaze from Olivia's abdomen and looks back up at her, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can," she says with a wide smile as she brings her own hand over her very swollen abdomen.

"Is it real life that she got in your tummy with a seed?"

She laughs and nods, "Kind of. But didn't you and daddy already have this talk?"

"Yeah but he just talked about stupid trees like the ones we planted at that big library. And when I asked Gerry he laughed and told me not to worry about it."

"Men," Olivia says as she nods her head in mock disapproval. "Can you tell me what daddy's tree story sounded like?"

Teddy takes a deep breath, "he said that when two grown up trees wanna make a baby tree, a seed comes from one of them and is put into the dirt and is watered and fed and gets sunlight and then after a little bit of time it starts to grow and then after more time we can see it and then watch it grow some more, and then it becomes a grown up tree and makes its own baby trees and that's why we have forests."

Olivia laughs good naturedly, "And from that I can see why you still have questions. Ok instead of grown up trees, think of a mommy and a daddy. When a mommy and a daddy love each other so much that they decide they want to have a baby, the daddy gives the mommy something like a little tree seed, and the mommy gets to keep the little seed safe inside her tummy until it's big enough to be born."

"Oh," Teddy says with a confused look on his face. "How did the seed get in your tummy?"

"Magic," Olivia says dramatically with wide eyes.

"Really?"

She laughs, "No, but until you're older I want you to pretend that it's magic. Can you do that for me?"

Teddy shrugs his shoulders, "I guess so." He looks down for a few moments and then back up to her. "Can she come on my birthday? That would be so cool!"

Olivia smiles and strokes his cheek. "No one knows when she's going to come except for her. But are you sure that you'd be okay sharing a birthday with your sister?"

Teddy enthusiastically nods, "Yeah! Double cakes and presents, duh. It would be awesome."

Olivia laughs and shifts her hand across her swollen abdomen. "Okay well, maybe you should try and convince her that it's time to come out."

"No yet, daddy needs to come home first," Teddy says with a serious expression on his face.

"Good point," Olivia smiles with a conceding nod, "So in the meantime, what would you like to do?"

"Watch _Cars 2_," Teddy says without a moment's hesitation.

"Well what are you waiting for? Go put it in." Olivia laughs when Teddy bounces off of the couch and excitedly runs over to the TV to start his second favorite movie. He comes back over and snuggles himself into her side, resting his head on the inside of her chest as her arm snakes around him holding him tight.

They watch the movie together, Olivia actually staying awake throughout the whole thing thanks to Teddy's periodic nudges. She then goes to cook dinner as Teddy sits down on one of the stools at the kitchen island, coloring another turkey drawing that he declared will be for Karen. Olivia periodically looks up from where she's working and looks over at the little boy coloring in front of her, an unconscious smile spreading across her face. She never dreamed that the little boy created merely for political gain could capture her heart and the heart of everyone around him so easily—she never dreamed of how perfectly he could jell their family together. And she hopes that he never finds out about the reason for his existence because although he was not created from a place of love, he is loved more than he could ever imagine.

She quickly gets so caught up in her thoughts and distracted by the baby's constant kicking that she doesn't hear someone slip in through the front door or the quite footsteps into the kitchen, and she doesn't notice the excitement in Teddy's eyes until she feels hands snake over her eyes from behind.

She jumps a little—obviously caught in complete surprise—but she quickly recognizes the petite hands and smiles as she turns around. "Karen." And she engulfs the teenage girl in her arms and presses a kiss to her temple.

"I missed you so much mom," Karen says as she pulls her head up from Olivia's shoulder and smiles at her.

"I missed you too, sweetie," Olivia replies as she wraps her arms around Karen again, hugging her as close as her very swollen stomach will allow.

"Hey what about me?" Teddy asks with a lopsided smile from his seat on the stool, feeling the lack of attention being directed toward him.

"Well I guess I missed you too, you little creep," Karen says as she walks over to him, rounding the island and opening her arms for him—bracing herself for impact.

Teddy jumps into her arms and laughs as she playfully spins him around in circles, his legs swinging outward from the centrifugal force. She puts him down and he walks back over to the island, picking up the picture he had been drawing for her. "I made you a turkey. She has on a fancy dress and shoes. And look, I even drawed her nails pink," Teddy says with a wide smile as he points to his drawing.

"Hey Kare, where's your dad?" Olivia asks as she looks out of the kitchen and over to the front door and doesn't see Fitz.

"I'm right here, Livvie," Fitz says with a small laugh as he struggles to drag Karen's suitcase through the garage door. "Geeze Karen, what do you have in this thing? Rocks?"

"Oh c'mon dad it's not that heavy. Don't tell me I go off to college and you fall out of shape."

"I'm not out of shape. If you haven't noticed already, my workout partner is temporarily out of commission so I've been slacking a little bit," Fitz says with a smile and a quick, knowing glance over at Olivia.

"Ew gross, that is a visual I did not need," Karen says as she rounds the counter and tires to take the suitcase from Fitz.

"That is not what I meant," Fitz says, laughing at Olivia's semi-horrified face. "And leave the bag by the stairs—Gerry can get it when he gets home."

"Alright cool," Karen says as she exits the kitchen with her suitcase, Teddy getting up to follow her.

"Hey Teddy wait up! Don't I get a proper hello?" Fitz calls out after Teddy. The little boy turns around and gives his father a sheepish smile.

"Hi dad, bye dad!" He says as he runs out of the kitchen after Karen.

"I'll give you a proper hello," Olivia says as Fitz turns back to look at her.

Fitz walks over to her and draws her into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he holds her close. She pulls away slightly and he brings his face down to hers, capturing her lips in a deep, slow kiss.

"Hi," she whispers against his lips after a few moments.

"Hi," he returns with a smile, pulling her back into another drawn out hug.

"I miss—we missed you," she quickly corrects, and he brings both of his hands to her baby bump, spreading them out to encompass a vast majority of it.

"And how was my girl last night? Well behaved for mommy?" he asks as he leans down and presses a soft kiss to the top of her stomach.

"More like tap dancing along my bladder all night," Olivia says with a small laugh as she runs a hand through the curls at the back of Fitz's neck.

"Just a few more days and you'll have your body back and we'll have our little girl," Fitz says with a smile as he brings his head back up and places a kiss to Olivia's forehead.

"I can't wait," she says as she lays her head on his chest, bring a hand up to rest on her swollen abdomen.

"How are you feeling? Any cramping or contractions?" he asks as he wraps an arm around her waist, leading her over to a seat at the kitchen table.

"Just tired, and a little achy," she says as he sits and she leans back against him—closing her eyes and enjoying the soothing circles he's rubbing into her back.

"Why don't you let me finish up dinner and then we'll get the kids to do the dishes and we'll take a warm, relaxing bath together."

"Mmm, that sounds nice," she says—her eyes still closed and head resting against his shoulder, "but I don't think I'd be able to get back up out of the bathtub, Fitz."

"I'll help you, baby. Don't worry about it," he says, pressing another kiss to her temple as he finishes his massage. "Now, where are we with dinner?"

"It's already in the oven, probably has about fifteen minutes left on it. There's stuff for a salad in the fridge, you just have to wash the lettuce and throw everything into a bowl."

"I'm on it," he says as he kisses her again before getting up to finish preparing dinner and set the table. Olivia turns in her chair and watches him chop vegetables and check the dish in the oven with a smile on her face—loving the domesticated side of her husband that not many are privy to.

"I forgot how much I love home cooked meals. Thanks mom," Karen says as she takes the stack of dirty plates from the table over to the sink.

Olivia gives her a small smile as she hands her a few more dishes from her seat, "You're welcome, sweetie. I'm so happy you're home."

"As am I," Fitz chimes in from his seat at the table, raising is wine glass in the air to her.

"Me too, me too," Teddy says with a wide smile from the kitchen, taking a break from scraping the leftovers on the plates into the garbage. "Now we just need Gerry!"

"He should be here soon," Olivia says as she looks over to Teddy. "Karen can you bring me a clean plate so I can make him a plate for when he gets home?"

"Sure," Karen replies as she grabs a plate from the cabinet and brings it over to Olivia.

"Hey Teddy, why don't we go get you showered and ready for bed while we wait for Gerry," Fitz says to the little boy as he brings the final dishes from the table into the kitchen.

"But I wanna wait for Gerry to get home," Teddy protests, a pout starting to form on his face.

"You can wait for him, but in the meantime let's get you showered. C'mon," Fitz says as he nods towards the steps, waiting for Teddy to start walking.

"Fine," he relents, putting the plate on the counter and following Fitz up the stairs.

Olivia gets up and puts the plate she had just prepared for Gerry in the refrigerator, helping Karen finish the rest of the dishes and wipe down the table.

"So tell me about Jason," Olivia requests as they settle in on the couch together waiting for the boys to finish and come down.

Karen's cheeks turn a light shade of red and a smile breaks out across her face. "He told me that he loved me last weekend when he came to visit."

Olivia smiles. "That's great, Kare. Did you say it back?"

Karen nods with a wide smile played out on her face. "I love him so much. Like I've never liked a guy like this, and it kind of scares me a little bit," she admits as she twirls a loose strand of hair around her finger.

"Love is terrifying, sweetie. But trust me when I tell you, it's all worth it in the end," Olivia says as she brings an unconscious hand over her baby bump.

"Is that why you waited and stayed with dad through everything?"

Olivia nods. "I tried to walk away, I really did. I tried to leave and move on, but no one else can make me feel the way your father does. And it took me awhile to realize that, but once I did there was no way I could go."

"And I'm really glad that you didn't go," Karen says softly, moving closer to Olivia on the couch.

"Me too, baby girl. More than you will ever know," Olivia says as she wraps an arm around Karen's shoulders and draws her in close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as Karen lays it on her shoulder.

"Can I tell you something?" Karen asks timidly after a few moments of silence.

"Always."

Karen lifts her head up and looks at Olivia, "Jason and I had sex last weekend."

Olivia's face softens, not sure if Karen is happy or upset with her choice. "Are you okay?"

Karen nods with a faint smile, "Yeah. I'm really happy that I waited for someone like him."

"You're being safe right?" Olivia asks with a serious look on her face. "Sex is a beautiful thing, but it is also a very big step with some pretty hefty consequences. I can take you to the doctor if you need me to."

"It's ok. Mom took me this summer when we were with her. She told me that a pregnant teenage daughter wouldn't be good for her campaign image so I needed to be prepared."

"Okay well," Olivia starts s she runs her fingers through the ends of Karen's ponytail, "if you need to talk about anything or if you have any questions, I'm always here for you. And I won't share any of it with your father if you don't want me to."

"Thanks mom, I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. And if I haven't said it lately, I am so proud of the woman you have grown up to be. It's been an honor being privileged to watch you grow up, and I can only hope this little girl will someday be half the woman that you are."

Karen wipes a tear from her eye before it is able to escape and tightly wraps her arms around Olivia. "I'm so thankful for you mom. You turned our nightmare home into the family that Gerry and I used to dream of, and I hope that one day I can be just like you."

They sit together in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the familiar company and indescribable love, but suddenly Karen gets up off of the couch and starts to run over towards the stairs.

She comes back a few minutes later with a paper in her hands and settles back onto the couch, handing it to Olivia. "I almost forgot, we had to write about an inspirational figure in my composition class and I wrote about you."

Olivia looks from Karen down to the paper and runs her fingers over the title, _Our Saving Grace_. She reads through the essay, trying desperately to keep her tears from staining the pristine white pages, pausing periodically to kiss Karen's temple.

"I love it," she breathes out as best she can through the tears once she finishes, "And I love you. Thank you so much."

"I was going to give it to you tomorrow after dinner when we go around and say what we're most thankful for, but I just couldn't wait. I also printed out a copy for you to save to show to the baby someday when she's older—someday when she's so mad at you and doesn't understand how lucky she is to have someone like you, to have you—as a mom and friend."

"Thank you," Olivia says, reaching out to draw Karen back to herself to give her a hug and press another kiss to her temple.

Karen leans in and gently rests her head on top of Olivia's stomach, whispering to the baby, "Our mommy is amazing; you're so lucky baby girl."

"I'm the lucky one," Olivia says as she places one hand on Karen's head and one on her stomach, just as the front door opens.

Karen lifts her head and the both turn around, both smiling as they see Gerry trek through the door with his bags.

"Hey guys," Gerry says with a smile as she makes his way over to the couch, giving Karen a hug before offering Olivia a hand to help her up, hugging her too.

Teddy comes flying down the steps with wet curls dressed in his spider man pajamas, launching himself into Gerry's arms with a loud shriek.

"Happy almost birthday, stinker," Gerry says with a laugh as he puts Teddy back down and moves over to give Fitz a hug.

"How was the drive?" Fitz asks as the five of them make their way into the kitchen, Olivia pulling out Gerry's plate and heating it up.

"It was fine, the only real traffic I hit was coming through Baltimore. And I had good music to listen to, so it was all good," Gerry says as he takes a seat with Teddy and Karen at the island.

"Good to hear," Olivia says as she hands Gerry his dinner, offering to fix him a drink.

Gerry turns to Teddy, "I'm surprised you're still awake, little man. Do bedtimes get dismissed when you turn seven?"

"He isn't seven yet," Fitz points out, "not for another two hours. And this is a special occasion 'big brother is finally home' bedtime dismissal."

"Well nevertheless, I'm glad you're here," Gerry says as he wraps an arm playfully around Teddy's neck and draws him in close.

"I'm going to go up and take a shower," Karen says as she stands up from the stool after a few minutes of family chitchat.

"Okay," Olivia replies with a smile, quickly adding, "take your brother upstairs with you please."

Teddy pouts but quickly stops when Fitz shoots him a look, and the little boy regretfully trudges off towards the stairs with Karen. Olivia rounds the island and presses a kiss to the top of Gerry's head, "I'm going to go tuck Teddy in. I'm glad you're home, Ger."

"Thanks ma," Gerry replies with a smile, and both he and Fitz watch as she walks out of the kitchen in pursuit of the stairs.

Olivia gets Teddy tucked into bed and reads to him until he falls asleep, a task that didn't take very long considering how late it was for him. She goes off into the master bathroom and gets herself ready for bed, deciding to skip Fitz's relaxing bath idea and go straight to laying in their comfortable bed.

He comes up a few minutes later and quickly brushes his teeth and changes, plopping down next to Olivia on the bed.

"I'm glad you're home now," she says, turning to look at him.

"I'm glad we're all home. I was terrified that you'd go into labor without me."

"I would never dare go into labor without you. Who would I verbally abuse if you weren't present? Tom?"

"Well now I'm here and ready to be abused, especially if it means we get to finally meet our little angel," he says with a smile as he lifts her shirt and places a kiss to the center of her swollen abdomen.

"I can't wait to see her," Olivia murmurs, soothingly running her hand up and down Fitz's arm.

"Me either. I've been waiting for this day since the moment I laid eyes on you in my campaign headquarters. You were so beautiful you took my breath away—and to this day you still do. And your grace, it's one of my very most favorite qualities that you possess. You, my beautiful Livvie, you are grace personified."

* * *

><p><em>Three days later, early Saturday morning, Good Samaritan Hospital<em>

Fitz looks over at his wife laying in the small hospital bed with their newborn daughter snuggled comfortably onto her chest, her sandy brown curls peeking out from under the knitted pink hat that she had just received. His heart swells with love and adoration as he watches Olivia hold their child, their miracle baby, and he can't help but smile. Their past—all of the hurt, and the pain, and the heartbreak—every last second of it was worth it in this moment, and he wouldn't take back any of it, not a single word.

"She needs a name," Olivia says with a smile as she looks up at Fitz, cradling a sleeping infant on her chest.

He moves over to the bed and sits on the edge, kissing Olivia as he gently strokes their daughter's cheek with a finger. "Grace."

"Grace?" Olivia says with an arched eyebrow as she looks up at him, her head resting on his shoulder.

He nods, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Grace," she repeats to herself after a moment. "Grace Ayla Grant. I love it."

"Grace Ayla Pope-Grant," he corrects, kissing her again.

She smiles up at him and presses her lips to his, smiling through their sweet kiss. She looks back down at their daughter and shifts her on her chest so they can see her face—a face that perfectly blends Olivia and Fitz together.

"Happy birthday Gracie, mommy loves you to the moon and back, always and forever."

* * *

><p><strong>So they finally got their little girl. And lived happily ever after. I may do an epilogue for this or random one shots from this universe later, but I'm not sure yet. I hope y'all enjoyed this one, and I'm sorry it took me like two weeks to get this written, life is crazy right now. <strong>


	5. Epilogue: Baby Steps

He's sitting at the desk in his little office off the kitchen trying desperately to get some finals graded, but he just can't seem to stop smiling as he listens to Teddy and Grace playing in the living room. He listens to the squeals and giggles coming from their one year old little ball of energy and he can't help but get lost in the countless memories.

The commotion finally settles down for a few seconds and refocuses on the thick stack of white papers in front of him, almost impressed at the students' ability to write such drab papers. He gets a few pages deep into the paper on top, and between the run on sentences and utterly pointless facts—he's already lost, and bored. He quickly realizes that he's losing precious moments with his children and decides the try again with his grading after he's played with Teddy and Grace for a while until Olivia gets home from work.

He tosses the red pen onto the desk and stands, headed out toward where he can hear the kids playing; but before he can get out of the office, he hears a loud thud followed shortly after by a familiar ear piercing cry.

"Dad! Dad! C'mere," Teddy calls out to Fitz, sighing in relief when he sees his father appear a few seconds later from the kitchen. Grace is sitting on the floor, clutching her head with one hand as she reaches out for Fitz with the other, tears streaming down her chubby caramel cheeks.

He walks over to her and quickly lifts her into his arms, gently cradling her head against his shoulder as he presses a soft kiss to the top of her short curls. "What happened?" He asks once the little girl's shrill cries turn into semi softer sobs.

Teddy innocently shrugs his shoulders and reaches up for tickle Grace's foot, trying to comfort his sister in any way possible. "I was trying to get her to walk to me but she fell and hit her head on the table."

"Okay," Fitz says calmly as he inspects Grace's head and gently sways back and forth in attempt to further calm the cries, "Can you go and get me the booboo bear from the freezer please?" T

eddy quickly nods and runs off in pursuit of the soft frozen green bear-shaped ice pack used for a plethora of small injuries acquired during childhood. Fitz sits down at the bottom of the staircase and whispers soothing words into Grace's ear as he rubs her back. "Shhh, Gracie, I know it hurts but you're okay baby girl. You're going to be okay," he says as he turns her around in his lap so he can get a better look at the injured side of her head. She starts sobbing louder and squirms around, wrapping her arms around his neck as best she can, pulling herself back up so she can hide her tear covered face in the crook of Fitz's neck. He continues rubbing her back as they wait for Teddy to return, "It's okay Gracie. Daddy's got you. Daddy's here. Daddy's here. You're okay."

Teddy runs back into the foyer with the ice pack and a towel and hands them both to Fitz before taking a seat on the step next to his father. Fitz offers the little girl the ice pack as a distraction and she quickly takes it into her chubby little hand, settling down as she inspects it. She brings it to her mouth and starts chewing on it with her few newly formed teeth, hiccupping loudly as her little body tries to replenish its air supply.

Fitz tries to shift her in his lap again so her back is to his chest and this time she allows it, still investigating the newfound item. She offers it to Teddy and he takes it with a smile.

"For me?" he asks animatedly, prompting a small smile from his younger sister. She further pushes it into his hands and looks back up at Fitz, tears still welled up in her eyes, her cheeks stained by the fresh streams of water.

"Da," she says as a small smile spreads across her tiny lips, "Dadadadada."

Fitz laughs and places a kiss to the top of Grace's head before shifting her to stand between his legs, her arms resting on the top of his thighs as she starts to bounce up and down. Teddy slides down the steps and walks on his knees a few steps in front of them, attempting to coax Grace into trying to walk again.

"C'mon Gracie, come to me," he says in his most encouraging baby voice with outstretched arms. The baby squeals with a happy smile as she continues to bounce, still securely holding herself up by Fitz's legs. "

Here, try this," Fitz says to Teddy as she hands him the now room temperature green bear. Teddy takes it and then holds it up directly into his sister's line of vision, "Do you want Mr. Bear, Gracie? C'mon. You can do it."

She moves one of her chubby thighs forward hesitantly as if she was going to try and step towards him, but she quickly withdraws it and leans further into Fitz—giving him a wide grin as she turns to look up at him.

Fitz smiles down at her and moves a single finger into each of her hands, "C'mon sweet pea, I know you can do it. Let's go walk to Teddy."

"Yeah Gracie, just like yesterday. You can do it," he says in an encouraging tone as he once again shows her the green bear and opens his arms in invitation. Grace bounces a few more times, letting out a few excited screeches—happy to be the recipient of so much attention presently. She taps her foot a few more times, trying to steady her newfound wobbly legs; and just as Fitz thinks she's going to try and step towards Teddy on her own just as she had done the day before, the front door handle turns and Olivia walks through the door.

The baby's face instantly lights up at the sight of her mother. "Mamamamamm," she calls out as she happily bounces between Fitz's legs.

Olivia drops her things by the door and shrugs off her coat, walking over to them. "And what is going on here?" she asks as she crouches down and kisses the top of Teddy's head. "Are you trying to get my baby girl to walk without me? Shame on you two," she continues lightheartedly as she focuses her attention on the baby in front of her. "C'mere Gracie. Come to momma," Olivia says with wide eyes and open arms, "You can do it baby girl."

The little girl hesitates for a few seconds but then inches forward, cautiously dropping Fitz's fingers and taking three wobbly steps towards Olivia before collapsing into her mother's arms with a loud squeal. Fitz and Teddy both cheer for Grace as Olivia stands up with her wrapped tightly in her arms, peppering kisses all over the baby girl's face.

"That's my girl," Olivia says with a proud smile as she lifts the baby slightly over her head and blows a few kisses on her exposed stomach. Fitz stands up and wraps his arm around Olivia's shoulder, pressing a kiss to her temple before doing the same to their daughter; and Teddy moves over to them too, handing the smiling baby the little green bear as he playfully tugs on her legs.

She eventually begins to squirm out of Olivia's arms in favor of Teddy's, and Olivia gladly hands the baby over, allowing herself to be engulfed by Fitz's arms a few seconds later. She rests her head against his strong chest and turns her head to watch Teddy walk back to the living room, making funny faces at Grace inducing round after round of giggles.

"When did she get so big?" Olivia asks a few seconds after Teddy and Grace disappear out of sight, their laughs still able to be heard though.

"I'm not sure," Fitz says with a sad smile, "but time definitely needs to slow down."

"Tell me it hasn't been a year. Tell me she won't be a year old next week," Olivia says as she and Fitz start walking into the kitchen together, Olivia pausing to grab an apple and knife from the counter.

"In six days she'll be one and in four days Teddy will be eight. I can hardly believe that," Fitz says as he walks up behind her as steals an apple slice from the cutting board. She playfully swats his hand and reaches over to grab a banana, "hey, hey these are for the kids. Get your own."

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," he says with a laugh before leaning in a pressing a few open mouthed kisses to the side of Olivia's neck, temporarily pausing her swift cutting.

"Fitz, stop," she finally breathes out through a moment of clarity, "little eyes and ears are around."

He moves next to her, leaning on the counter, and faces her, "Sorry, couldn't help myself." And with that he leans in and pecks her lips and steals another slice of apple before stepping away with a grin to dodge her slap.

"Go finish your work and maybe I'll make you a snack too," she says with a coy smile as she puts the apple and banana on separate plates and turns to get drinks from the refrigerator.

"The kind of snack I want doesn't have to be made, Livvie," Fitz says with a wink. "And how did you know that I have work to do?" he adds as an afterthought a few seconds later.

"You get no work done with the kids around," she fires back knowingly.

"I got a little bit of work done today," he says in defense as he takes a water bottle from the refrigerator for himself.

"For the short amount of time that Grace napped I bet. And then as soon as she whimpered once you were right in there to scoop her up and entertain her."

He looks back at her and shrugs, "Guilty. But what can I say? She loves when Daddy comes to the rescue."

"Yeah well, Daddy needs to stop spoiling her. And Daddy needs to go get some work done so he can continue to earn the money that will spoil her in the future."

He throws his hands up in surrender, "Okay, okay I'm going. But if you saw how dry these papers were, you'd understand why I'm procrastinating." "

Well then I guess it's a good thing that you've got all that water." And she laughs as he walks away, adding a quick, "Send the kids in for a snack please!"

Teddy and Grace come moseying into the kitchen a few minutes later, Teddy holding Graces fingers as she slowly takes wobbly step after step. "You're really getting the hang of this, aren't ya?" Olivia says as she walks over to them and lifts Grace onto her hip before placing the little girl into her highchair with a kiss.

"Aw no popcorn?" Teddy pouts as she places the apple slices on the table in front of him and moves over to offer the banana to Grace.

"Nope, we're all out. I'll have to pick some up next time I go to the store, but until then—apples," she says with a nudge toward his plate. Teddy picks up an apple slice and inspects it slightly before dropping it back onto his plate with a loud thud."I don't want apples."

She looks over to Teddy from her place next to Grace, "If I were to put a little bit of peanut butter on them would that entice you to eat them?"

Teddy thinks for a moment before confidently nodding his head. "Yeah, I think that could work," he says with a sly smile and Olivia laughs as she walks back into the kitchen in pursuit of a jar of peanut butter. She comes back with it, laughing as she watches Grace offer a slice of smashed banana to Teddy, a prompt no coming from him a few seconds later. Unphased, the little girl brings it to her mouth and eats it herself, giggling out a loud squeal of approval.

The kids continue to eat their snacks and she excuses herself to go upstairs and change, stopping in Fitz's office on her way back down. "Hey handsome," she says with a smile as she walks through the door and around his desk, leaning against it as she looks down at him.

"And how was your day, beautiful?" he asks as he swiftly scoops her into his lap, pressing his lips against hers in a sweet kiss.

"Good," she says with a content smile on her face, "but definitely better now." And she leans in and captures his lips again, letting herself get lost in the moment. She pulls back a few moments later with a wide grin on her face when she hears a loud squeal from Grace downstairs, "I should probably go see how I can be of service to her majesty."

Another loud squeal followed by a laugh from Teddy ring throughout the house and Fitz smiles, "It sounds like she is sufficiently serviced at the moment. Me on the other hand—" he trails off as he presses a few feather light kisses to her neck and exposed collarbone.

"What are you trying to say, Mr. Grant?" she asks with a devious smile as she runs her fingers through the back of his curls, letting her nails gently massage his scalp.

"Just that," he says as he presses another few kisses to her neck, "I can be, much, much, much, more fun than Grace."

She pulls his head away from her neck gently by his curls and brings his torturous lips up to hers. She pulls away with a small groan when a loud clatter comes from the kitchen, undoubtedly Grace throwing her plate to the ground. "I better go."

"If you must," he says in full pout, tightening his arms around her waist.

"God I hate that face," she says with a smile as she stands and rounds the desk again. "And the worst part of it is, each of our children has mastered it—even my sweet little baby girl has been corrupted."

"Hey," he defends as he raises his hands, "it's not my fault she takes after her daddy."

"Yes it is," Olivia says with a stern face as she nears the door. "And don't pretend for a second that you don't love it."

"I do love it," he says in concession as she exits the office, but he calls after her, "Oh and hey, Olivia!"

"Yes?" she says as she takes a step backwards and peeks her head back into the room. "Your ass looks great in those pants by the way," he says with a laugh and wink.

She laughs and shakes her head for a few seconds before adding, "Maybe if you behave, you can see how good it looks without the leggings."

"God I love my wife," he mumbles to himself under his breath as he goes back to grading and she disappears down the hall to spend time with the kids.

She sets Teddy up at the kitchen table with his homework before cleaning up both Grace and the mess she had made. Teddy finishes up his few math problems as she finishes prepping dinner, and they decide to brave the crisp winter air to take a walk. Teddy gets his shoes and socks on and snaps on his helmet as Olivia throws Grace into warmer clothes and puts her in the stroller, both kids with wide smiles on their faces as they roll across the paved driveway and down the street—Teddy riding circles around Olivia and the stroller on his bike.

"How was school today, bud?" Olivia asks as she lifts Grace from the stroller and sits down on a little bench that overlooks a small lake not too far from their house.

"Loooooong," he says with an exaggerated sign as he picks up a rock and throws it into the lake, watching the ripples it creates. "Second grace is much much harder than first. Thank God it's almost Thanksgiving, I need a break."

Olivia laughs and nods in solidarity as she lets Grace squirm off of her lap. "I feel ya, Teddy Bear. I could use a break too, but we just have to make it through this week and then Gerry and Karen will be home."

"Eight days," he says with a confident smile, "I'm counting."

"I know you are bud," she says with a nod before looking down at Grace, watching as she hesitates to take a small step forward. Teddy notices too and moves a few inches in front of them, holding out his hands for her.

"C'mon Gracie. Walk to me," he says with an enticing smile. Grace looks at her brother and then turns to look back at Olivia.

"You can do it, Gracie. Go to Teddy, c'mon you can do it!" she encourages. Teddy softly claps his hands and Grace smiles, reluctantly taking a small step forward as she continues to hold onto Olivia's legs. She takes another small step and then reaches out for Teddy, grasping one of his hands as she takes the final step to reach him.

"There you go, sweet pea! You did it!" Olivia praises as she excitedly claps for her daughter. Grace turns around and reaches out for Olivia, happily babbling as Olivia picks her up and presses a kiss to her chubby cheek. Teddy holds out a hand for a high five, which Grace happily swings at, before heading down closer to the water's edge.

"Careful, Ted," Olivia calls out after him, concerned the little boy's adventurous streak will override his common sense. Teddy throws up a thumbs up as he continues to venture away, engrossed in the way the water ripples in different patterns as he tosses rocks with varying force.

"Tah?" Grace says as she turns and curiously looks at Olivia once Teddy had made it down to the bank.

"You wanna go see what Teddy's up to, sweet pea?" she asks the little girl, "then you're going to have to walk." And she stands up, placing Grace in front of her, holding her hands for balance and security. "C'mon Gracie, let's go see Teddy bear."

They slowly make it down to the bank, Grace plopping down onto her butt as she gives up about halfway down there. Teddy shows off the rock skipping skills Gerry had taught him when he came home for thanksgiving break, and Olivia tries to skip one—finally getting one to jump after a few tries. Teddy hands one to Grace but the baby promptly brings it to her mouth, Olivia catching her hand right as she were to eat it. "No Grace, those are yucky," she corrects, and the baby begins to cry, sparking their decision to head back home—Teddy leading the way on his bike the entire time.

When they get back, dinner is ready and Fitz has everything set up so Olivia sends Teddy to wash up as she cleans Grace's hands and takes off her extra layers. They eat quickly, conversation flowing and upbeat—Teddy super excited for the return of Gerry and Karen and his self-declared much needed break for all things school related. Fitz and Teddy clear the table and Fitz does the dishes as Olivia gives Grace a bath and gets her ready for bed. Teddy stops in to say goodnight to his sister on his way to the bath, and Olivia starts their bedtime routine—a story, rocking, and cuddles. Fitz comes in with a wet shirt a few minutes before Grace falls asleep, lifting her from Olivia's arms and hugging her goodnight.

The little girl squirms back into Olivia's arms, laying her head on her mother's shoulder and promptly falling asleep as she listens to the familiar humming and heartbeat. She holds the little girl close, rubbing her back as she breathes in her clean, familiar baby smell, enjoying these few peaceful moments with her daughter. "Goodnight, sweat pea. Mommy loves you to the moon and back," Olivia whispers as she lays the baby into her crib and dims the light, quietly closing the door and walking down the hall into Teddy's room.

She finds him and Fitz in the middle of story time so she sits on the bed with Teddy, letting him snuggle into her side as she leans back and lays down with him. He falls asleep a few minutes after Fitz finishes the book, and she and Fitz quietly slip out of the room after kissing the sleeping boy goodnight.

They walk down the hall toward the master bedroom, Fitz reaching for her hand as they approach the door. He brings their intertwined hands up to his lip and presses a kiss to the back of her hand, leading her into their bedroom and gracefully plopping down onto the bed with her. He pulls her on top of him and she straddles him, giggling through their kiss as he playfully turns them over. She pulls off Fitz's shirt that Teddy had tried to soak during his bath and runs her hands up and down his sculpted abs, "Mhhh God I love you." "

I love you too, Mrs. Grant," Fitz adds breathlessly a few seconds later. "Now about earlier, let's see how you look without these," and he peels off her leggings and tosses them over by his discarded shirt, kissing down her body, enjoying her small pleasure-filled moans and gasps as they get lost in the moment and the pleasure.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the original format. I fixed it! Happy Olitzing!<strong>


	6. Memorial Day

**Here's a little Memorial Day one shot of my favorite family. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"No, no, no," Fitz says despairingly as he walks through the foyer and into the living room, finding all three older kids and Olivia lying across the couch looking like death had paid them each a visit. He walks over and stands in front of his fallen family, a sympathetic smile on his face.<p>

"Hey dad," Teddy says from his place on the couch, his head resting in Olivia's lap as she strokes his shoulder lovingly, "I didn't throw up at all today. Isn't that awesome?"

"Yeah buddy, that's great. I'm glad you're starting to feel better," he says with a smile before turning to face the older two children. "And how are my first and second in command doing?"

"I'm alright," Karen says with a fake smile as she sips on her glass of orange juice.

"Might as well place me on the causalities list, pops," Gerry says as he reaches for the remote and changes the tv back to a golf tournament. Karen kicks his leg and shoots him a dirty look, "C'mon go back. I was watching that."

"It's a commercial, calm down. We can go back to that junk after I watch old Phillie boy win another trophy." Gerry replies as he shifts to take Teddy's head into his own lap so Olivia can stand up.

Olivia grabs the three empty bowls from the coffee table and hands them to Fitz, bending back down to collect the empty glasses before following him into the kitchen. They place the soiled dishes into the sink and he turns to wrap his arms around her, pulling her flush against himself for a few seconds before leaning down to give her a soft kiss.

"Please tell me you aren't getting sick too," he says with genuine worry across his brow. "We can't have the Memorial Day barbecue with the main coordinator out of commission."

"You know that I don't get sick," she shoots back with a laugh as she frees herself from his embrace and makes her way to the freezer—pulling three popsicles out of a box.

He gives her a suspicious glance and laughs, "Oh how quickly you forget. I seem to remember a day not too long ago where I found you curled up on the couch with your very own bowl of chicken noodle soup."

She rolls her eyes with a small smile, "That doesn't count and you know it," and she hands him the three unwrapped popsicles, "Make yourself useful why don't ya?"

He presses a kiss to her neck and whispers against her skin, "I wouldn't mind finding you like that again sometime soon, Livvie." And he moves past her and out to the living room to deliver the colorful ice to his three sick children. He sits down on the couch with the kids, laughing as he watches Teddy try to trade his orange popsicle for Karen's red one.

A familiar cry makes its way down the stairs a few minutes later, and Fitz stands just as Olivia calls out to him from the kitchen, "Fitz can you get her please?"

He quickly makes his way up the steps and into Grace's room, smiling as he sees her standing in her crib with outstretched arms. "Dada!"

"Hi sweet pea," he says as he picks her up and places her on his hip, "did you have a good nap?"

She rubs her tired eyes and rests her head on his shoulder, poking his stubbly cheek as they make it down the steps. When they reach the bottom, he puts her down and follows as she quickly walks over to the couch. "Kan?" she says with a sheepish smile as she points to the orange popsicle in her sister's hand.

Karen shakes her head no, and the little girl begins to pout until Olivia promptly walks into the living room with a sippy cup. She sits down on the edge of the couch and shakes the cup, grabbing Grace's attention with the clattering ice. "Here you go, sweet pea," Olivia says as she holds out the cup for the little girl.

Grace quickly makes her way around the coffee table and walks over to Olivia, taking the cup from her and allowing herself to be lifted into Olivia's lap.

"Really Gerry?" Olivia questions with a smile as she notices what the kids are watching on tv. "You truly are your father's son."

Gerry smiles and nods before looking down at his popsicle sick, "Alright I've got a joke for y'all. Why did the fish have a bad report card?"

Grace squirms off of Olivia's lap and waddles over to Gerry, inspecting the popsicle stick as she climbs up onto him as best she can. "Do you wanna tell everyone the answer, Gracie?" He asks as he sits up and pulls the baby into his lap.

"I had that one yesterday, it's not very funny," Karen says with a smirk as she subtly lifts the remote from Gerry's leg and changes the channel back.

"Wait don't tell me, lemme think," Teddy says as she flips around on the couch so he can once again lay his head in Olivia's lap. He looks up at her as she presses a kiss to his forehead, running her fingers through his curls. "Ahh, I've got nothin'."

"Well here, T, let's figure this one out," Olivia says to the little boy as she watches Fitz walk over behind Gerry and sneak a peek at the popsicle stick. "Read us the question again Gerry."

"Why did the fish have a bad report card?" Gerry repeats before handing the stick to Grace for her to play with.

"Okay well what is a group of fish called?" Olivia asks Teddy.

"Umm, a school?" he says with uncertainty.

"There ya go, Teddy," Karen says with an encouraging smile.

"So the fish has bad grades because he left his school!" Teddy says excitedly after thinking for a few moments.

"Sounds good to me," Olivia praises with a smile.

"Well the real answer is 'because all of his grades were under "C"' but I like your answer better, T-bone," Gerry says as he lets Grace slip back out of his lap.

"Okay here I've got a good one for you Gerry," Karen says with a sly smile. "What kind of shirts do golfers wear?"

Gerry thinks for a few seconds and then turns to his sister, "If I get this right, we go back to golf."

"Fine, but if you don't, we don't ever watch golf again," she shoots back.

"Alright deal. Read the joke again."

"What kind of shirts do golfers wear?"

Gerry thinks for a few moments, and then feels a small kick on his leg from Teddy. He looks over at his younger brother and notices that he's trying to sneakily slip him his own popsicle stick. Gerry subtly takes the stick and reads the joke on it, smiling as he realizes it's the same one. He looks back over to Karen with a cocky smile and decides to raise the stakes of their bet.

"If I can guess this, you have to do all of the party dishes and wash my car."

"Fine. But if I win, you do all of the dishes for two weeks—including all of the party dishes."

"Okay deal," he says with another cocky smile. "Golfers wear tee shirts."

Karen glares over at him and catches the wink he shoots over to Teddy. "There's no way you would have gotten that. Who told?" And she scans the room, noticing how Olivia suggestively moves her eyes down as if to indicate Teddy's guilt.

"You cheated!" She yells as she pounces on Gerry and grabs the second popsicle from the couch next to his leg. She looks up at Teddy and tickles his stomach, "And you helped him! I can't believe you, Ted. I thought we were friends!"

"Karen no! Karen stop!" Teddy says as he tries to squirm away from her tickle torture, but Olivia holds him in place, allowing Karen to continue.

Grace quickly runs over to them, squealing in delight as Gerry lifts her over everyone and places her in the middle of the ruckus, everyone's attention quickly turning to tickling and kissing her.

Fitz gets up and quickly pulls out his phone, taking a few picture of all the kids playing together as Olivia slips off the couch and walks over to Fitz, allowing him to pull her into his arms.

"You still think it's okay to have this party tomorrow with them all being sick?" Olivia asks after a few moments.

"Look at them," he says with a soft smile, "they may have been sick a few days ago, but I think we have three very good actors milking it for attention."

"Ya think?"

"Oh, I definitely think so. Why do you think Gracie hasn't gotten sick yet?"

"I just thought I was doing a good job keeping her away from them and pumped full of orange juice."

"Nothing we do will ever be able to keep her away from them, or them away from her for that matter."

She smiles at him and then looks over to the four of them on the couch, Karen struggling to grab the remote from Teddy as he jumps on the couch around Gerry and Grace. "They're something else, aren't they?"

"They're everything I've ever dreamed about," he says with a proud smile as he presses a kiss to the top of Olivia's head, tightening his arm around her waist.

Olivia nods her head, "Yeah me too." And they fall into a calming silence until Grace starts calling for them.

"Mama! Mama! Kan," Grace squeals out through a round of giggles as Karen lifts her shirt and blows kisses on her chubby tummy while Gerry and Teddy tickle her feet and kiss her face. "Dada! Jeeeeer! Dada! Tahh!"

Fitz walks over behind the couch and lifts Grace into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of her hair as he places her on his hip. "Well since it looks like the three of you have just made a miraculous recovery, Mom and I are going to need some help prepping for the party."

Olivia laughs and moves to take Grace from Fitz and places her on her own hip. "Ted, Dad is going to need some help cleaning up the back deck and pool; and Gerry, since the kitchen and oven are about to be occupied all night, I'm going to need you to go and pick up dinner."

"What about me, Ma?" Karen asks as she sits up and turns on the couch.

"The Karen Grant world famous pasta salad is calling your name baby girl," Olivia says with a wink, rustling Teddy's hair as she passes him and makes her way into the kitchen, Karen following closely behind her.

Olivia sets Grace up in her high chair, putting three spoons on the tray to keep the little girl occupied while she goes to town in the kitchen—prepping the more complicated meals for the party. She and Karen expertly move through the large kitchen, working diligently on each of their dishes.

Olivia looks out the large window above the sink and sees Fitz aiming the hose at Teddy, the little boy running in zigzags trying to avoid the water. "Sometimes I wonder who's the adult and who's the child," Olivia says to Grace as she walks over to the babbling baby and frees her from her high chair.

"Dad definitely gives Ted a run for his money in the annoying kid brother department," Karen says with a laugh as she places her covered bowl of pasta salad into the refrigerator.

"Me dada!' Grace calls out with a wide smile as she points out to Fitz through the rows of glass sliding doors.

"But sweet pea, he's going to get you all wet," Olivia says with a laugh as she walks over toward the doors.

Grace squirms out of her arms and loudly presses an open hand to the door, catching both Fitz and Teddy's attention. Fitz smiles and winks at the little girl and after checking to make sure that the door is closed all of the way, he aims the hose at her, prompting a loud fit of giggles from all three women in the house.

"Dada me!" she says again, turning to look back at Olivia, wanting her mother to open the door and let her go out and play with the water.

"Livvie, let her out," Fitz calls to her, "I'll watch her."

Olivia nods her head in amused disapproval and then bends down to undress the little girl, leaving her only in her diaper. "Here Gracie, go play with Daddy and T-bone," she says as she opens the door and watches as Grace runs out onto the deck.

Fitz changes the setting on the hose to mist and aims it toward the little girl running toward him. She squeals in pure glee as she makes it over to Fitz, dancing around in circles as he continues to soak her.

"Well at least I won't have to give her a bath later," Olivia says with a laugh as she wraps a few bowls and places them into the refrigerator.

"That actually looks like fun, c'mon mom," Karen says as she starts to walk over to the door.

Olivia shakes her head, "I think I'll stay nice and dry behind the glass thank you, but you go have fun with them."

"You sure?" Karen says, checking one final time before running out towards her father and siblings. She reaches Grace and lifts the little girl into her arms, spinning in circles under the misting water.

Olivia stands at the door watching for a few more minutes, enjoying all of the laughter she hears and smiles she sees. Gerry comes up behind her with a few pizzas in his hand and wraps his arm around Olivia's shoulder.

"Now that looks like fun," he says with a smile as he takes his cell phone and car keys out of his pocket and lays them on the kitchen counter. He quickly strips off his shirt and turns to Olivia, "You coming?"

She smiles at him and shakes her head, watching as he runs out too, and then deciding to throw some towels in the dryer for when they're all finished. But before she leaves, she picks up Gerry's phone and takes a few pictures of them all—one of Karen dancing around with Grace, one of Teddy running over to pounce on Gerry, one of all four kids taking the hose and turning it on Fitz together. And she goes to the laundry room to warm up the towels, an unconscious smile plastered across her face—she can't think of a time where she's ever seen so much happiness and love, a time where she's ever been happier or loved more.

She's quickly pulled from her thoughts when she hears a few ceremonious knocks on the glass doors, quickly walking out with the pile of towels to find all four kids' faces pressed up against the glass, Fitz not too far behind them with a goofy grin on his own face. She picks up Gerry's phone again and takes another picture before opening the door and walking out with the five towels.

Each person takes one and she uses the left over one on Grace, peeling the little girl's soaked diaper off and wrapping her in the warm towel, holding her slightly shivering body close to her own warmer one. "Why don't you all go upstairs and get showered and changed real quick, I'll put the pizzas in the oven to keep them warm."

"Yes pizza!" Teddy says with arms raised in victory as they each quickly run through the house in pursuit of the stairs, trying to be the first to their shared bathroom.

"I think you need a hug, Livvie," Fitz says with a grin as he slowly moves closer to her, his arms already outstretched.

"Fitzgerald, if you value your life you will not take another step in my direction," she shoots back in a warning tone.

"You'd actually consider killing me? The love of your life?"

"The love of my life is in my arms right now," she says with a smile as she presses a kiss to the top of Grace's wet curls, "and the rest of the loves of my life are upstairs."

"Ouch," he says as he brings his hands to cover his heart in wounded fashion. But then he takes another big step toward her, a grin back on his face.

"I'm serious Fitz. If you get me wet, so help me God."

"That's usually something you quite enjoy," he says with a wink as he takes another step toward her.

"The sun is up, all four kids are awake, and I happen to have a baby in my arms, so I'm going to choose to ignore your crude comment Fitzgerald."

"Mama brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Grace says to Olivia as her body squirms and her little head shivers, directing Olivia's attention away from Fitz as he slowly inches toward her.

Olivia presses another kiss to the top of Grace's head, "I know you're cold sweet pea. Daddy's going to get you nice and warm and put on your jammies okay?" And she hands Grace over to Fitz, careful to avoid his wetness and the small puddle surrounding him.

"C'mon pretty girl, let's get cleaned up so we can hug momma again. Because she's a big party pooper, right Gracie? Momma's a party pooper?" Fitz says as he walks out of the kitchen, turning to wink at Olivia as they go.

She nods in agreement and laughs when she hears Grace try to mimic Fitz's words. She gets most of the kitchen cleaned up while the kids all shower, and by the time they start trickling down the stairs, she has dinner set up and ready to go. Everyone quickly eats their dinner, none of them realizing just how hungry they were until the food was in front of them.

"Can we watch a movie?" Teddy asks Fitz as he brings his plate to the sink, handing his dirty dishes over to his father.

"Since you're all ready for bed, I think a movie doesn't sound like the worst plan in the world," Fitz says as he rinses and loads the few dishes into the dishwasher. "What do you guys think?"

"A movie sounds alright," Karen says as she hands her plate to Gerry for him to clear from the table, "But we're not watching Space Jam, or Forrest Gump for that matter."

"Aww c'mon, Space Jam is the best," Teddy whines as he plops back down in his seat at the kitchen table.

"Yeah Kare, you can't be a part of this family if you don't appreciate the only medium that is able to combine two of the best things ever created," Gerry says as he patronizingly pats his sister's shoulder.

"Well you can't be a part of this family if you think Loony Tunes and baseball are two of the best things ever created," she shoots back as she removes Gerry's hand from her shoulder.

Teddy sits up on his knees in the chair and raises his arms in frustrated fashion, "Its basketball! Basketball! It's Loony Tunes and basketball! Gosh."

Fitz exaggeratedly covers his eyes and groans, "Karen Melody Grant, how are you even my daughter?"

"Whatever, all of the guys playing pretty much look the same to me," she says in her own defense.

"Okay enough. We're not watching Space Jam because I can practically quote it from the five hundred times you watched it last week Teddy. And Forrest Gump is not exactly age appropriate for everyone," Olivia says to Karen as she nods her head over in Teddy's direction.

"What about The Rookie? I think I saw it in the DVR," Gerry adds as he wipes Grace's hands and mouth and lets her out of her high chair, laughing as she automatically runs over to play with the silverware in the dishwasher—her newfound favorite toy.

"Oh I could definitely go for some young Dennis Quaid," Karen says with a laugh as she sits on the kitchen floor with Grace, helping her clank the metal together.

"You and me both, sista," Olivia says with a laugh, laughing again as she notices the way Fitz rolls his eyes as her.

"Hey Karen, for your FYI, this movie is about baseball," Teddy says before sticking is tongue out at her.

"Hey Teddy, FYI you shouldn't say 'for your FYI'", and she sticks her tongue out in return.

"How come?" he asks Olivia as he wiggles his way in to seat himself in her lap.

"Well, FYI means for your information, so when you say 'for your FYI' you're really saying 'for your for your information,'" she explains to him as she runs her fingers through his hair and kisses the top of his head.

He shrugs his shoulders, "Oh okay, makes sense I guess."

Olivia smiles at him, "Why don't you go and get the movie all set up while we all finish up in here?"

He nods slightly before running off into the living room, sliding across the tile in his socks.

Fitz finishes the dishes and shuts the dishwasher, prompting a fit from Grace as her means of entertainment is taken away. Karen tries her best to distract the little girl with the letter magnets on the refrigerator, but she continues to cry as she waddles over and lays her head in Olivia's lap.

Olivia picks up the sleepy little girl and brings her into her lap, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Aww Gracie, who's the party pooper now?"

"Still you," Fitz says with a laugh as he holds his arms out for Grace, but she refuses to go to him. "Gracie you know it breaks Daddy's heart when you're mad at him," he says as he leans in and kisses the top of her head.

"Yeah if only that was still the case for us," Gerry says to Karen as they exit the kitchen.

"Yeah seriously."

"I'm going to go put her down. We have a long day tomorrow and I don't want her to be cranky," Olivia tells Fitz as she rubs the baby's back soothingly.

"Alright," he says to Olivia before looking back at Grace just as she lets out a little hiccup and yawn. "Goodnight sweet pea, I love you very much."

"Say night night to Daddy, Gracie bear," Olivia says as she attempts to hand the little girl over to Fitz, but Grace quickly resists and latches her arms around Olivia's neck. Fitz gives the little girl a pout but quickly presses another kiss to her temple before going back into the kitchen to pop some popcorn.

Olivia and Grace walk out into the living room so the three kids can say goodnight to Grace, but their goodbyes are as well received by the little girl as Fitz's were, so Olivia quickly brings her upstairs and sits down in the rocking chair with her.

She grabs Grace's favorite blanket and the little girl holds it close as she allows Olivia to slowly rock her to sleep. Grace tries to fight her tired eyes, but eventually she can no longer battle and they close as her breaths even out and she relaxes into Olivia's chest. Olivia holds Grace for a few minutes after she realizes the little girl had fallen asleep, merely enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

Fitz slowly peeks his head in the door and Olivia smiles at him when she sees the pout still on his face. "I thought maybe she'd have changed her opinion about me."

"You know how she gets when she's tired," Olivia whispers as she slowly stands and steps closer to the little girl's crib.

"I know, but it still breaks my heart, Livvie," he admits as he runs a hand over Grace's soft curls.

"Here," Olivia says as she carefully hands the sleeping baby over to Fitz, smiling as she notices the way she automatically nestles into his chest. "See, even subconsciously she loves her Daddy."

Fitz presses a kiss to the top of Grace's head and gently lays her down in the crib, taking the blanket from her arms and spreading it out over top of her. He wraps his arm around Olivia as she walks over to him and they watch the little girl sleep, both with subconscious smiles on their faces.

"I want a baby," Olivia suddenly blurts out as they walk back towards the steps together.

Fitz stops walking and turns to look over at her, "What did you just say?"

Olivia takes a deep breath and bites her bottom lip, trying to prevent a wide smile from playing out across her face. "I want to have another baby. Let's have another baby."

He quickly pulls her into his arms and brings his lips down to hers, slowly walking her back against the wall as he kisses her without restraint. He pulls back and cups her face with his left hand, "God I thought you would never ask."

She smiles, "Technically I didn't ask, I told you. It was a statement. Let's have another baby."

"Well I have a statement for you—two actually. First, I love you. And second, I plan on knocking you up later tonight so plan accordingly."

"I like those statements. I like them both very much," she says with a seductive smile as she runs her fingers through the soft curls at the back of his neck.

"Me too. Now c'mon, the sooner we start this movie the sooner I can take you to bed," Fitz says before kissing her one final time and leading her down the stairs, following the echo of familiar voices and laughter.


	7. Final Straw

"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" Grace chants from her crib as she shakes the tiny railing waiting for Fitz to come and free her.

He strides into the room a few moments later, a happy grin on his face. "Gracie, Gracie, Gracie!" he returns in a playful tone with his hands on his hips.

"Daddy," she says again, batting her eyelashes with a small smile.

"Gracie."

"Daddy!"

"Gracie!"

"Dadddddddy!"

"Gracieeeeeee," he mocks, and the little girl giggles, putting her hands on her hips to imitate her father.

"Daddy, down," she says in a stern voice, furrowing her little eyebrows.

"Daddy down, what?"

"Daddy down, please?" she says with a wide grin, and Fitz happily shrugs his shoulders and walks over to the crib. He places the little girl on his hip and kisses her temple. "Did you have a good nap, sweet pea?"

Grace nods and lays her head on Fitz's shoulder, playfully squeezing his nose as he carries her down the stairs.

"Teddy?" the little girl whispers when she sees a picture of him as Fitz walks through the foyer.

"Teddy is with Miss Mellie for another couple of weeks sweep pea," Fitz informs her, and tears start to fill Grace's eyes.

"I want Teddy."

He adjusts her on his hip and uses his free hand to wipe a stream of tears from her cheeks. "I know baby girl, I miss Teddy too."

Grace continues to cry, and Fitz sits her on the kitchen counter while he fills her sippy cup. But before he can hand it to her, Gerry, Karen, and Olivia come through the garage door with their hands full of grocery bags.

"What's with the tears, Gracie bear?" Gerry asks as he puts his bags down on the counter across from her and scoops her into his arms.

"Teddy," she softly whispers again as she lays her head on his shoulder.

"Oh I understand," Gerry says sympathetically, "how about we FaceTime with him after dinner? Does that sounds good?"

Grace nods her head but refuses to pick it up off of his shoulder. "How about we go swimming, you little fish? Does that sounds good too?" And the little girls nods once again.

"She has a bathing suit and swim diaper out in the laundry room," Olivia informs Gerry, kissing Grace's cheek as Gerry passes her.

"Alright cool. You coming Karen?" he asks with one hand on the laundry room door.

"Yeah, I'll be out eventually. I'm gonna help Mom start prepping for the barbecue tomorrow." And with that Gerry and Grace exit the kitchen, leaving Karen alone with Olivia and Fitz.

"What started the Teddy pout today?" Olivia asks as she unloads a few items into the refrigerator.

"She saw his picture in the foyer," Fitz tells her as he passes her a few items to be placed in the fridge.

"I feel so bad," Karen says as she takes a seat on the barstool at the kitchen island, "he's miserable at mom's and we're miserable here without him. I hate that he can't be here."

"I know, Kar," Fitz says as he turns to face his daughter, "but until he turns eighteen, there's really nothing anyone can do. I get him for the school year and holidays, and your mother gets him for the summer."

"She's not my mother, and I want nothing to do with her anymore," Karen says, and she scoots off the stool and leaves the kitchen, running up the stairs a few seconds later.

"Are you gonna go talk to her?" Olivia asks as she allows Fitz to draw her into a hug.

"She'll tell us what happened when she's ready," he says, and he presses his lips to her forehead.

"I'm worried about her. It's so hard growing up without a mom, Fitz."

"She hasn't grown up without a mom. She's had you, Liv, and I will be eternally grateful for that."

She looks up at him and smiles, "I love you."

"I love you too," he replies with a kiss on her lips, "but c'mon, let's go swimming."

"I need to get some of this stuff started for the barbecue tomorrow."

"Swim now, cook later." And he flashes her a smile.

"Why can I never say no to this face?" she asks as she cups his cheeks with her palms, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

And they go upstairs to put on a bathing suit, dragging Karen down with them to the pool. They all stay in the pool together for awhile, Grace holding on to Olivia tightly as Fitz and the older kids play with the pool basketball hoop.

"Kan! Kan!" Grace calls out across the pool as she begins to let go of Olivia and paddle across the water to Karen, her floaty bathing suit making her bob up and down in the water.

Karen swims over and meets the little girl half way and brings her over to where they were playing. Gerry tosses her the small basketball as Fitz swims under her over to Olivia, and Karen lifts Grace out of the water so she can dunk the ball.

"Yay Gracie!" Olivia cheers from the pool steps, and the little girl turns around with her hands raises in victory.

"Ready Gracie? Hold your breath," Karen instructs, and she waits for Grace to plug her nose before she throws her into the air, letting her fall back into the water with a loud splash.

"More! More!" she yells out through a fit of giggles as she swims over toward Gerry.

He throws her into the water a few more times, and the three kids play contently with each other for a while in the deeper part of the pool while Fitz and Olivia watch on from the steps.

"I hate that Teddy is missing this," Fitz says to Olivia as they hear the repeated laughter from the kids.

"I do too," Olivia says with a sympathetic smirk as she brushes Fitz's wet hair from his forehead, "I really miss the little stinker. But he'll be home in a few weeks."

"He called again last night when you were putting Grace to bed. Mellie went to another fundraiser and left him with a babysitter all day, he said she hadn't been home since breakfast." Olivia kisses his cheek and he continues, "Sometimes I really wish that I would have fought her for sole custody. He hates it there and I hate seeing him so upset."

"You were trying to give her another opportunity to have a relationship with her children. You did the right thing, Fitz," Olivia says in a serious tone, and she presses another kiss to his temple. "But if you feel that him spending the summers with her is doing him more harm than good, I would gladly have some of my team look into working out a new custody agreement for him."

"I don't know, I just wish he wasn't alone over there. And I can't force Gerry and Karen to spend their summers over there just for his sake. It's not fair to them, and it's not fair to Gracie or us."

"Well, why don't you invite them both over tomorrow for The Fourth, and after dinner we'll try to get some new arrangement worked out?"

"You know," he says with a smile, "if I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were a professional fixer."

She laughs and moves through the water to sit on his lap, kissing him as he wraps his arms securely around her waist.

"Hey! Can you two stop that before I need therapy?" Gerry calls out from across the pool, and a few second later Grace yells "Ewww" at her parents after some prompting from Karen.

Fitz and Olivia both laugh, and Fitz shakes his head and pecks her lips again before calling back to the kids, "if you don't like it then don't look."

"Mommy!" Grace yells, and the little girl starts trying to swim over to were Fitz has Olivia tightly glued to his lap.

Olivia claps her hands and holds her arms out, "c'mon sweet pea, you can do it. Swim to Mommy!"

Grace starts kicking as fast as her little legs will allow, and after noticing how far she has actually moved, Gerry swims under her and helps push her along the water. She finally reaches the steps, and Olivia pulls her into her lap, running her fingers through the little girl's messy curls.

"Gracie, I think you need a hair cut," Olivia says with a laugh as she struggles to get her fingers through the ends of Grace's curls.

"No," Grace replies indignantly.

"No?"

"No."

"What about a nice warm bath?" Fitz asks as he reaches around Olivia and tickles Grace's sides.

"No," she replies again in the same tone after she finishes squirming away from Fitz.

"Do you want some ice cream, Grace?" Olivia asks the little girl, testing a hypothesis in her head.

"No," she says again without hesitation.

Karen swims over and coaxes Grace out of Olivia's lap and back into the open water. "Do you love Gerry more than me, Gracie bear?"

"No," she says confidently, smiling at Karen when she sees her stick out her tongue in Gerry's direction.

"Is Karen your favorite sibling?" Gerry asks her as he too makes his way over toward the rest of the family.

"No."

"Is 'no' the only word you can say?" Fitz asks with a laugh.

Grace thinks for a minute and smiles, "no."

"Well what else can you say, baby girl?" Olivia asks, and Grace swims back over to her, wrapping her arms around Olivia's neck. "Mommy!"

"What's your name?" Olivia questions after kissing the little girl's forehead.

She smiles turns around in Olivia's arms. "Grace," she says confidently, but completely mispronouncing the 'G' and 'R' sounds in her name.

"What's my name?" Gerry asks, knowing how badly she mispronounces his name too.

Grace smiles again and slaps the water with an open palm, "Gerry!" she yells but it sounds like 'airy.' And then the little girl points to Karen, "Kan!"

Karen points back at her, "Ace!" And the little girl turns back to Fitz, "Daddy!"

He nods and smiles, "Gracie!"

Grace giggles and looks up at Olivia. "Mommy?" she says in a curious tone.

"Yes sweet pea?"

"Food."

All four adults laugh, and the little girl looks around at them all, not understanding the cause of their laughter.

"Are you hungry?" Olivia asks her daughter after they all calm down.

"Yes," she sings out, and points her finger to the sky.

"Do you want Daddy to make us dinner tonight, sweet pea?"

Grace nods her head enthusiastically, and Olivia turns back to look at Fitz. "The princess has spoken."

"But Gracie, you don't want everyone to get sick, do you?" Karen asks, the thought of Fitz cooking dinner scarring her.

"Excuse me, if I can lead the strongest nation in the world for almost a decade, I can surely whip is up something for dinner."

"Dad," Gerry says as he pulls himself out of the pool and sits along the edge, his feet still in the water, "throwing a frozen pizza in the over does not count."

"I resent that, Fitzgerald," Fitz says in a faux angry voice, "and just for that, I'm going to make us all a delicious dinner and if you don't like it then you can tell the world and send out a twitter about how your lame father can't cook."

"They're called tweets, Dad. And alright fine, but Olivia and Karen can't help you at all. And spaghetti doesn't count either. And you have to make something green."

"Well what happens if you actually enjoy the meal, Ger?" Olivia asks as Grace squirms off her lap and over to hang onto Gerry's feet.

"Then I'll say something about how Dad's cooking is better than his golf game."

"Alright, it's on," Fitz says with a smirk, and he lifts Olivia off of his lap so he can get out of the pool.

"C'mon Gerry, why do you have to get him started like this? You know he's gonna make burnt chicken and garlic asparagus and we're all going to have to put on a fake smile while we choke it down," Karen says as she pulls Grace from his legs and sucks under the water quickly to get the little girl on her shoulders.

"Hold on a sec," Gerry says, and he quickly stands and runs to the sliding glass door, sticking his head in and yelling, "you can't make chicken and garlic asparagus either!"

Gerry jumps into the pool again and tries to tackle Karen to get Grace into his arms, but she dodges and the little girl squeals at him. He sighs and moves over to sit by Olivia on the steps, "it's times like these where I really miss my Ted monster."

"We all miss him, Ger," Olivia says, and she gives him a small smile.

"I feel bad for leaving him alone with her, but I honestly cannot be under the same roof as her for another minute. She's toxic."

"She's not toxic, she's just...it's the power," Olivia corrects, and when Gerry raises his eyebrow at her, she continues, "Power is what's toxic, Get. And with her, her need for that power is all consuming."

"She's so selfish and negative, and frankly, I've had enough of her crap. I don't need her hostility in my life anymore."

"And if that's your decision Gerry, I'll respect that. But Teddy is still so young, and she's his mother-"

He shakes his head and cuts her off. "You're his mother," he corrects.

"Every night when I was there a few weeks ago, he cried for you at night. He cries every night. He hates it there, Mom. We all do."

"Your father and I are hopefully going to discuss everything with her tomorrow."

"She's coming to the barbecue? You're going to ruin the holiday by inviting the wicked witch of the west?"

Olivia gives him a small smile, trying to hide her laugh. "Just think of this Independence Day as Teddy's first step toward independence from the so called wicked witch."

Gerry smiles and moved closer to Olivia to hug her. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, bud. I love you guys, and I'd do anything to see you guys be happy."

"So you'll let me drop out of school and pack up my car and go travel the country?" he asks with a smile.

She laughs. "Sure. But with what money?"

"Touché. But how about skydiving? That would make me pretty happy."

She gives him a menacing look and he laughs. "You know Mom, Dad used to jump out of planes for a living."

"Yeah well, that's before I met him so it doesn't count. You can jump out of a plane on the way home from my funeral, Ger."

"Alright deal. But that better not be for another sixty or so years."

"Sixty? Kid, I plan on living until I'm at least one hundred and five. Someone's gotta be here to keep you all in line."

"About that," he says, and looks up at her with a small smile, "can I invite someone to the barbecue tomorrow?"

"Is this someone a girl?" Olivia asks teasingly.

"Maybe."

"Does Gerry happen to really like this someone?"

"Maybe."

"Does this someone happen to really like my Gerry?"

"Oh absolutely. How can you not love this face?" he asks, and he gives her a cheesy smile.

"I'm not sure, Ger," she says with a laugh, "and of course Cheryl is invited."

He looks up at her with wide eyes, silently asking how she knew. She smiles and pats his shoulder, "Karen has a big mouth."

"God I hate sisters. Please let this next baby be a boy."

Olivia's eyes grow wide and she looks up at Gerry slightly alarmed. "What? Dad has a big mouth too. Where do you think Karen gets it from?"

"Gerry," she says slowly, "there's no baby."

He smiles. "I know. But when there is, make sure it's a boy please."

She smiles. "And how do you suppose I do that?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, work your Olivia Pope magical mom voodoo magic or something."

"Alright well," she says as she starts to stand,"I'll see what I can do." And she turns to look over at Grace and Karen, "c'mon Gracie, let's get you showered before dinner."

* * *

><p>"Alright Dad, I was wrong. Dinner was actually pretty good," Gerry says as he walks from the table to the kitchen with a stack of dirty dishes in his hands.<p>

Fitz turns to look at his oldest child, "what was that, Ger? I didn't quite hear you."

"I said: dinner was good."

"And what was that other part?"

He gives his father a dirty look. "I was wrong."

"Thank you, that's all I wanted to hear. But now, you can do the dishes."

"But Thursdays are Karen's night," he whines, sticking out his tongue at Karen when she gives him a dirty look.

"Well as my first familial executive order, I hereby give Karen Melody Grant the night off from dishes and redirect the duty to Fitzgerald Thomas Grant IV." And he winks over at Grace who claps her hands and giggles. "And I also decree Grace Ayla Grant a later bedtime so she can be present when we FaceTime one of her favorite brothers, Theodore Wallace Grant."

She looks over to Olivia, "Teddy?"

"Yeah baby girl, do you want to see Teddy bear?"

Grace smiles and points to the empty chair next to her, the one where Teddy normally sits. "Hey Kar, can you go grab your iPad so we can call before it gets too late?" Olivia asks as she wipes Grace's face and hands.

"Sure," she says, and she runs off to go retrieve her iPad, returning a few moments later.

"Karen!" Teddy says excitedly when he answers the call.

"Hey buddy, what's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm bored," he says with a pout, and Karen gives him a sympathetic look.

"Aw I'm sorry bud, why don't you get one of the agents to play a game with you?"

"It's Scott's night," he informs them, and Karen gives him another sympathetic smile, knowing that Scott is the one agent that doesn't have a single fun bone in his body.

"Well, there's someone here who I know would really like to see you," Karen says with a smile, getting up to go sit next to Grace.

"Hi Gracie!" Teddy says with a wide smile, "I miss you!"

"Tedddddddy," she sings out happily, slapping her hands on her high chair tray.

Olivia gets up and walks behind Grace so she can be visible in the camera too. "Hey kiddo, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay," he replies in an unconvincing fashion.

"Any plans for tomorrow?" she asks, and Teddy unenthusiastically shakes his head.

"Well what'd you do today?" Olivia probes further.

"It rained so Courtney let me watch movies and eat popcorn," he says with a small smile, but they can all tell it's fake.

"Has Courtney been babysitting all day?" Fitz asks as he too comes into the frame.

"Yeah. Mom was at work."

"Well is she home now?" he asks, hoping that she is so he can invite them over for dinner tomorrow in front of everyone, just about forcing her to agree to it.

"Yeah. She's in her office, I think," he informs them.

"Oh okay. Do you think you can go get her?" Fitz asks quickly, and Teddy nods before putting the iPad down and running out of view.

They both come back a few minutes later, and Mellie gives them a forced smile when she's greeted by laughing and smiles on the other side of the screen. "Hi guys."

"Hey Mellie," Fitz says, "if you don't have any plans tomorrow, we'd like to invite you and Teddy over for a barbecue and fireworks."

"Oh how nice but," she starts but Teddy quickly cuts her off. "Yay! We can go, right mom? Please! Can we go?"

"Teddy," she says in a voice that he knows will result in a 'no' so he looks at his father with pleading eyes.

"Teddy said you didn't have any plans for tomorrow so I thought it's be nice to have some family time."

Mellie looks down at Teddy and sees the excitement and hope on his face and she takes a deep breath, "Sure, we'd love to come. What can I bring?"

"Just yourselves," Olivia says with a smile, and Grace happily squeals when she sees the smile on Teddy's face.

"Okay well, I have some more work to do. See you all tomorrow." And she quickly turns and walks away, leaving Teddy alone in the living room once again.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ted. Love you," and with that Karen gets up and quickly walks off towards the stairs.

Olivia watches her walks away and can tell that something's wrong. "Hey bud, I'll be right back." And she gets up and follows Karen up to her room, leaving Fitz with Gerry, Teddy and Grace in the kitchen.

She knocks softly on Karens door and pushes it open after a few seconds, finding Karen crying into her pillow on her bed.

She walks over and sits down next to Karen, wrapping her in her arms, allowing her to sob on her shoulder.

Karen eventually pulls her head up and looks at Olivia. "She didn't even say hi to me. Why doesn't she love me?"

"Oh Karen," Olivia says, and she kisses her forehead and holds her close as Karen continues to cry.

"Why do I even care? Why do I let her bother me so much?" Karen gets out through he sobs, and Olivia soothingly rubs her back. "I hate her. I hate her so much, but a part of me still wants her to love me."

Olivia lays back against the pillows and pulls Karen with her, keeping her arm wrapped tightly around Karen so she can rest her head on Olivia's shoulder. "You care because she's your mom, Karen. As much as you may wish she weren't, and as much as you wish she would change, she's still your mom, and you love her."

"But she doesn't love me," Karen says once her sobs have quieted down.

Olivia fingers through the ends of Karen's hair and looks over at her. "She loves you, Karen, she just doesn't know how to show it."

"I hate her," Karen whispers into Olivia's shoulder. "When we were there a few weeks ago, she was talking to someone on the phone and she laughed and said 'most days I really wish my three brats weren't even around'".

Olivia holds Karen tighter and kisses her temple as she makes eye contact with Fitz, his anger apparent all over his face. She gives him a look, and he recognizes that she can handle this so he turns around and walks back down the hall, leaving them alone again.

"Okay I'm done giving her the benefit of the doubt. Karen listen to me, I may not have given birth to you, but I love you just as much as I love Grace. You are an incredible young woman, and one day I hope Grace is just like you. And if your mom is too blind, or heartless, or power hungry, or just plain stupid to see how incredible you kids are, than that's her problem. What she thinks, or says, or does doesn't matter anymore. You will always have a place in this family, and I will always think of you as my oldest daughter. If you don't want to see her or talk to her again that's fine with me, and I'll even tell her that. You deserve love, plain and simple; and I'm not going to let you kids be subjected to her bull shit anymore. I'm done with her belittling you guys and making you three not feel like you're some of the most amazing kids in the world. I'm going to get your Dad full custody of Teddy, and this family is going to be done with Melody Grant's bull shit."

Karen looks up at Olivia smiling through her tears, "I've never heard you curse before."

Olivia laughs and kisses Karens's temple again, "yeah well, you weren't in the room when I had Grace."

Karen smiles and settles back against Olivia's shoulder. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, sweet girl. And I'm serious when I say that you are my daughter. If you want to be finished with Mellie, that's fine; and if you're not ready to be finished with her, that's fine too. Whatever you decide, your father and I are here for you."

Karen takes a deep breath and sighs, "I'm done with her. You're my mom, and dad's my dad."

Karen looks up at Olivia and notices her tear-filled eyes, "why are you crying?"

Olivia laughs and uses her free arm to wipe her eyes, "because I love you damn kids so much."

"You know," Karen says with a smile, "I think I love you just a little bit more now that I've heard you curse."

"Yeah well, every once and a while it's necessary," Olivia says with a smile, and the two of them fall into an easy silence together until Fitz, Gerry, and Grace come running into the room with the iPad.

They jump on the bed and all five of them sit close together, talking to Teddy until he's ready to say goodbye.

Grace falls asleep in Olivia's arms while they talk, and Karen volunteers to take her across the hall to her room. But when she doesn't return, Olivia excuses herself to go find her.

She walks into the nursery and finds Karen sitting in the oversized rocking chair with Grace, the little girl awake again and listening to Karen tell her stories. Olivia walks over to them and motions for Karen to scoot over so she can sit down next to her. She kisses both of their heads and looks at on at her two daughters, wondering how she could possibly be so lucky, and so blessed.

And she listens to Karen tell Grace the story of their first few days together, and she watches as both girls slowly fall asleep, both completely peaceful and content in Olivia's presence.

A/N: up next: The Fourth of July aka the end of Mellie!


	8. Independence

"Gerry!" Teddy yells out with a loud squeal as Gerry opens the door and Teddy goes flying into his arms.

"Hey monster, I missed you so much!" Gerry replies as he picks up Teddy and spins him around, choosing to ignore the fact that Mellie was also standing in front of him.

"Hey Ger, it's good to see you," she says with a brave smile as she closes the door behind her.

He raises an eyebrow, "is it?" And he and Teddy turn and walk away from her, venturing off into the direction of the backyard to see the rest of the family.

She follows in Gerry's direction and when she reaches the back doors, she hears all of the excited squeals and sees all of the hugs Teddy is receiving from Fitz, Olivia and the kids. Olivia notices her standing in the doorway and makes her way over to her. "Hey Mellie, happy fourth."

"Same to you. Thanks for inviting us, Teddy is sure happy to see everyone," she says with a fake smile that Olivia sees right though.

"Yeah well, we're happy to have him home, even if it is just for the day," Olivia fires back with her own false smile.

Grace comes running over to Olivia before Mellie has the chance to say anything else, and Olivia lifts the little girl onto her hip, running her hand over Grace's curls to tame them. Grace looks across at Mellie and then quickly hides her face in the crook of Olivia's neck.

"Gracie, can you say hi to Miss Mellie?" Olivia asks the little girl, surprised by her uncharacteristically shy behavior.

Grace steals a glance at Mellie and quickly hides her little face again, holding on tighter to Olivia. Mellie chuckles. "Well, like father like daughter, always needing you as a security blanket."

Olivia kisses Grace's temple. "Sweet pea why don't you go play with Karen and Daddy in the pool?" she asks, and a few second later she places the little girl back on her feet and watches as she runs off toward Fitz. Once she's out of ear shot, Olivia looks back at Mellie. "Listen, we didn't invite you over to just bicker all day. Like it or not, we're family. And like it or not, our children are siblings and need to spend time together- they want to spend time together- so our paths are bound to cross. Can we please just be civil, for the kids' sakes?"

"Sure. And in the spirit of civility, I hope you don't mind but my chief of staff needs a picture of the kids all playing to release to the media."

"God, do you care about anything except optics?" Olivia asks as she shakes her head in disgust just as Fitz trudges over with Teddy on his back.

"Mellie," he says with a calculated smile, "how's life in the senate treating you?"

"It's good. How's housewife life treating you?"

"It's great actually," he says as he adjusts Teddy on his back, "isn't that right bud?"

"Yeah," Teddy replies, and he whispers something inaudible in Fitz's ear and a smile spreads across Fitz's face.

"Momma will you come swimming with us now?" Teddy asks, and Mellie looks over at him. "Oh I don't think so honey."

Teddy glances at her with confusion on his face, and Fitz can't help but smile over in Olivia's direction at the awkwardness of the situation. "Actually I meant Olivia," he clarifies, and Mellie looks up at Fitz horrified.

"Sure," Olivia says with a smile, and she grabs Teddy's hand when Fitz puts him down and they quickly walk toward the pool, leaving Fitz to deal with his gawking ex-wife.

"What the hell Fitz? You let our son call your whore 'mom'?"

Fitz furrows his eyebrows and points toward the house. "Come inside with me. Now," he says sternly, grabbing a towel to dry off as they walk into the house. He closes the door behind himself, making sure no one will mistakenly hear what he's about to say to her.

"First off, you have absolutely no right to come into my home and insult my wife," he says sternly as he leans up against the kitchen counter, giving Mellie a death glare. "The kids call Olivia 'mom' because that's what she is to them. She's their mom. You can bad mouth Olivia to whomever is still stupid enough to listen to your crap, but the only person you're hurting is yourself. I love her, the kids all love her, and the American people love her."

"They're my children Fitz, what would people say if they knew my kids call her mom?"

"And that right there is the reason they think of Olivia as their mom. All you care about is what the public thinks of you, you don't give a fuck what Gerry, Karen, and Teddy think!" he yells, thoroughly fed up with her already.

"Of course I care what they think!" she yells back, "they're my children and I love them!"

"You have a hell of a way of showing it," he says in disgust, and he makes eye contact with Olivia as she quietly comes through the door.

"Your whore is brainwashing them, Fitz. And you're so blind you just let it happen," she says bitterly, not realizing that Olivia is standing right behind her.

"I'm not sure what universe you're from where you consider unconditional love brainwashing," Olivia says, and Mellie whips around to face her, "but you need to open your eyes and see who the problem really is. And I'd also appreciate it if you'd stop calling me Fitz's whore. It's old and tired, sort of like you."

"Those kids were so starved for the love and affection you neglected to show them that they latched onto the first person to show that they truly care," Fitz says as he moved to stand next to Olivia. "And Olivia was that person. She's been there for Karen, Teddy and Gerry for years, showering them with the love a mother should show her children."

"Mellie," Olivia says in an even tone, "the kids are old enough to know what they want. Gerry and Karen have made it pretty clear that they want to be here, and if you spent even a second of time to ask Teddy what he wanted, I'm very confident that he'd tell you he'd rather be here too."

"Teddy doesn't know what he wants. He's seven years old for crying out loud, Olivia!" Mellie says as she shoots Olivia an icy glare.

Fitz pinches the bridge of his nose. "He's almost nine, Mellie. For Christ's sake you don't even know how old he is. And if you would spend any time with him, you'd know that he acts more mature than Gerry sometimes."

"He's a child, Fitzgerald. And children do not get to make these kind of life decisions."

"No, they don't get to make decisions when you know they'll decide against you. Gerry was given the decision to go to boarding school because you knew he would go; Karen on the other hand was not, because we both know boarding school was the last place she wanted to be."

"That's not fair. Those kids got a world class education," she defends, but Fitz quickly cuts her back off.

"But at what cost? Karen has felt that abandonment since the day we forced her out of the car! And Gerry still won't talk about some of the things that happened to him there! We were selfish, Mellie, and that really hurt them; but me being selfish here with Teddy is the right thing to do."

"What are you trying to say?" Mellie asks, a stern glare on her face.

Fitz and Olivia make eye contact and she nods slightly at him, and Fitz turns to look back at Mellie. "I'm having the paperwork drawn up to sue you for sole custody."

Her eyes widen and she looks back and forth between Fitz and Olivia, her eyes finally settling on her ex husband. "Fitz, you can't do that. How would it look if people knew my own kids didn't want to see me?"

"I frankly don't care how it would look; I care about Teddy, not you and your reelection campaign."

"You're not going to win," Mellie says confidently, "a judge would never believe you. I may not be the best mother, but honey, I sure do know how to put on a good show."

"Actually he is gonna win," Gerry says from the hallway that leads into the living room, catching all three adults by surprise, Karen right by his side.

"Why are you even going to fight this?" Karen asks with an incredulous look, "don't you wish on most days that the three of us were never born? Well here's your chance."

"Karen, sweetie," Mellie starts, but Karen raises her hand and shakes her head.

"No, I don't want to hear it. I'm tired of letting you make me feel like a bad person for hating you. You deserve every ounce of my hatred, and that's exactly what you're going to get." And she turns around and walks back outside, scooping up Grace as the little girl runs over to her. They jump into the pool together, Teddy quickly jumping in after them, and the three kids start splashing each other, their laughter able to be heard inside the kitchen.

"This," Gerry motions to the scene outside, and Mellie turns around to look, "is where Teddy belongs, this is where he's happy, this is where he thrives. And if you took even a fraction of a second to think about what's best for Teddy and not what's best for your image, you'd realize that. You never once did that for Karen and I, don't mess it up with Teddy too." And he starts to walk back outside, but turns back around as he reaches the door, "you still have a chance to salvage your relationship with him. Don't make a third child hate you."

Mellie watches as he closes the door behind himself, immediately tackling Teddy back into the pool with him, all four kids smiling and laughing. She looks down at the floor for a few moments and then back up at Fitz and Olivia, "fine."

"Fine what?" Fitz says with an arched eyebrow.

"Fine you can have him. But can we keep this matter private? The media does not need to know."

Fitz shakes his head in disgust, but Olivia speaks up. "Sure. I'll have my team file the paperwork discretely, just a judge with a pen in chambers, no big hearing."

Mellie hesitates for a second before putting a brave smile on her face, "thanks Olivia."

Olivia nods and Fitz wraps his arm around her waist. "Thank you," he says, and he lays a quick kiss on her temple.

Mellie clears her throat, "well since it seems I'm no longer welcome here, I think I'm going to go."

"You don't have to leave, Mellie," Olivia says genuinly.

"Yeah, I think I better had." And she turns to walk toward the foyer.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to the kids?" Fitz asks as he follows her out.

She gives him a tight-lipped smile. "They don't really want to hear from me. Tell them that I had an emergency, or the office needed me, or whatever you think is best."

She opens the front door and steps outside before she turns around for a few seconds, seeing Fitz and Olivia standing in the doorway behind her. "Bye, Mellie."

"Goodbye."

Fitz closes the door and looks up at Olivia, "that was much easier than I expected."

"That's because you doubted her ability to put her children first," Olivia points out as he wraps her up in a right hug.

"Well after twenty years of co-parenting, I didn't really think she had it in her. I'm glad that I was wrong."

"I'm glad that you were wrong too," Olivia says with a small smile, moving up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his lips.

"What do we do now that the wicked witch is officially dead?" Fitz asks as Olivia lays her head against his chest and they stand together, still in a hug.

A loud squeal from Grace rings out through the house from the back yard, and Olivia smiles. "We go back outside with the kids, set off some fireworks, and celebrate true independence."

* * *

><p>"So I'm allowed to stay here tonight?" Teddy asks for about the tenth time from his bed, Olivia sitting on the edge of it, Grace in her lap and a book in her hand.<p>

"Yep," she says with a smile, "you get to stay at home every night now."

"Every night forever?"

"Every night that you want to."

He smiles, "cool."

Olivia presses a kiss to his forehead and motions for him to move over, "alright scooch over so I can get this book started." He moves over in the bed and Olivia turns around to sit up against the headboard, Grace nestling herself in between them, her face watching Olivia but head resting on Teddy's pillow with him.

Olivia starts to read, and a few pages in, Gerry and Karen both come into the room, laying at the foot of Teddy's bed to listen to Olivia too. She gets a few pages into the second chapter when she looks over and notices that both Teddy and Grace had already fallen asleep, so she closes the book and kisses Teddy's forehead before scooping up Grace and motioning for Karen and Gerry to close the door and follow her.

She lays Grace in her crib and covers the sleeping baby with a light blanket before quietly closing the door behind her. She follows Gerry's voice and finds both him and Karen sitting on his bed, both looking up at her when she walks in the doorway.

"Hey guys," she says softly as she makes her way into the room and sits on the edge of the bed, "what's going on?"

"I can't believe she let go of Teddy," Gerry says after a few seconds, "I didn't think she had it in her."

Olivia wraps an arm around Karen, and in return Karen lays her head on Olivia's shoulder, "well, at least she finally saw that he needs to be here."

"With people that actually care about him," Gerry adds, picking up his vibrating phone.

"Is that Cheryl?" Karen asks with a grin, and Gerry playfully kicks her as he smiles down at his phone screen.

"You're one to talk, Miss Karen," Olivia says with a laugh, "how is Jason by the way?"

"Great," she says with a cheesy smile, "I was actually wondering if maybe he could come up for a few days. You and Dad could meet him, and we could finally spend some time together."

"I think that sounds like a terrific idea, kiddo. But you should probably warn him that your father definitely has the military commander routine down."

"Oh it'll be fine," Karen says with her head still on Olivia's shoulder, "Dad's not nearly as scary as his threats make him seem."

"Yeah, but I am," Gerry says with a smile and a wink. "You better tell lover boy to keep his hands where I can see them at all times. And don't you even think about him staying in your room."

Karen kicks his leg and glares at him. "You better watch yourself or I'll tell Cheryl about that trip to France. You know, the one when you peed your pants because of a firework."

Olivia laughs and looks up to see Fitz in the doorway, "okay well on that note, I'm going to bed. Good night guys, I love you." And she presses a kiss to each of their foreheads before getting up and walking into Fitz's arms.

"Love you too, Mom," Karen calls out, and Gerry adds a "yeah love you, good night," of his own.

"Night kids, see you in the morning," Fitz adds before leading Olivia into their bedroom, exaggeratedly locking the door behind them.

She eyes him carefully. "Hmm, what's the lock about?"

"Well," he starts as he grabs the hem of her shirt and starts tugging at it, pressing a quick kiss to her neck, "you're just so good with the kids. That's hot."

"Oh really?" she asks as he tosses her shirt on the ground, and he mumbles an "mmhmm" as he continues to kiss her neck.

"Fitz," she squeals as he pushes her onto the bed, her tiny frame bouncing from the force. He crawls on top of her and kisses her soundly on the lips for a few seconds before moving back down to her neck.

"Fitz," she moans out, but he doesn't stop. He moves down her body and begins to unbutton her pants, but she cups his cheeks and forces him to look up at her. "Fitz wait-"

"No," he says sternly, his eyes glazed over in lust.

"No?" she asks with a raised eyebrow, letting out another small moan as he presses a few open mouth kisses to her stomach.

"No," he repeats, looking back up at her. "Now, stop talking and let me work. This baby isn't going to make itself, you know."

She pulls him fully onto of her so their faces are level, and she smiles, "no he's not. By all means, get to work."


	9. Saturday

"Stop thinking so loud," Olivia groans as she pulls the covers up further and snuggles closer into Fitz's side, not bothering to open her eyes.

Fitz presses a quick kiss to Olivia's temple and goes back to staring up at the ceiling fan that's rhythmically spinning. "What if they're, you know," he whispers to her after a few silent seconds.

"No, Fitz, I don't know. What are you talking about?" she asks with her eyes still closed.

"Sex, Olivia," he whispers horrified, "What if they're having sex?"

She turns over and checks the small bedside clock before turning back on her side to look up at him, "Fitz, it's not even seven o'clock yet. They didn't stop talking until almost three and they're teenagers, they're clearly still sleeping."

"But Liv-"

Olivia cuts him off. "No, stop it Fitz. Go back to sleep before Grace wakes up and you can't."

"Maybe I'll just go check real quick," he reasons, "I'll be right back."

She grabs his arm as he rolls around her to get off the bed, "You promised after the last time that you'd leave them alone."

He sits up next to her and groans. "But Liv-"

"No buts," she says as she pulls on his arm again, pulling him closer to herself. "He's sleeping four rooms away from her, exactly where he was when you got up and checked an hour ago."

"But Liv," Fitz whines, but she puts her finger to his lips to silence him.

"They didn't have sex last night, Fitz, and even if they would have, they're being responsible so-"

"What do you mean 'they're being responsible'?" He interrupts, horror slowly creeping onto his face. "Did she already have sex with him?"

"Fitz," Olivia says in a soft voice, "Karen is almost twenty years old."

"Answer the question, Olivia," he says calmly, but his facial expressions painting a different story.

"Yes," she says simply, "She told me about it right before Grace was born."

His face falls and he looks at the closed door before looking back at Olivia. He stays silent for a minute and then takes a deep breath, "She's being safe?"

Olivia nods and cups Fitz's cheek with the palm of her hand, "She's being very safe, and she's in love, and he treats her right."

He lays his head on her chest, and she runs her fingers soothingly through his hair. "She's my baby girl," he whispers out, and Olivia leans down and kisses his temple. "Yeah, but she's not much of a baby anymore."

He moves back onto the bed and crawls overtop of Olivia, propping himself up on his arms as to not put too much weight on her but enough to where she can feel his body. "Thank you," he says as he presses his lips to hers.

She smiles against his lips, "For what?"

"For everything. For giving her someone she feels comfortable enough confiding in, for treating all of my kids as your own, for keeping me calm and grounded, for our beautiful daughter, for sharing your life with me."

She leans up and captures his lips with hers, parting them with her own and starting what had the potential to be a long passionate kiss if Grace didn't start calling out for someone.

Fitz sits up and smiles, "That kid has some of the worst timing of anyone I've ever met."

"Well she is your daughter," Olivia says with a laugh as she gets up and throws her robe on.

He grabs her hand as she tries to walk out the door and smiles at her, "Hey timing might not have been on our side in the beginning, but I'd say it worked out pretty well in the end."

"Yes it did," she smiles, "I'll be right back."

She walks down the hall and cracks both Gerry's and Teddy's doors, smiling as she sees them both asleep in their beds, and she goes across the hall to check on Karen too before softly knocking on Grace's door.

"Daddy?" the little girl asks cautiously when she hears the knocks.

Olivia slowly pushes the door open a few inches and the little girl stands up in her crib, "Kan!" Olivia quickly pushes the door the rest of the way open and steps inside. "No silly goose, it's Mommy!"

Grace smiles and bounces up and down, happily clapping her hands as Olivia walks toward her. "Did you sleep well, sweet pea?" Olivia coos to the little girl as she lifts her onto her hip and kisses her temple, walking down the hall back toward their bedroom.

"Daddy?" Grace calls out timidly as Olivia pushes open their bedroom door, and Fitz sits up in bed, holding his arms out when Grace reaches for him.

"Oh how's Daddy's sweet, sweet, little princess?" Fitz asks softly as he sits back against a few pillows, and Grace snuggles into his chest, laying her face against it. Olivia gets back into bed and curls up against Fitz's other side, rubbing her hand gently up and down Grace's back.

Olivia stills her hand and looks up at Fitz with a smile on her face when she starts to hear Grace's soft snores, and Fitz leans down to press a kiss to the top of Olivia's head in return. "I don't think I would ever get tired of listening to these little snores," Fitz whispers, and Olivia nods in agreement.

"I wish she'd stop getting so big," Fitz whispers again with a wistful smile. "Ya blink and they go from sleeping on your chest to sleeping with some guy you've never met."

"Fitz," Olivia whispers in a warning tone, "Jason is a nice guy. We like Jason. We aren't going to be mean to Jason. We're going to get to know him and be happy for our daughter."

"Your words," he says with a mischievous smile, "not mine."

"Be nice to him," she says with a stern look pressed on to her face, "or you'll be enjoying the couch for awhile."

"You wouldn't dare."

"If you pull any funny business I will have no problem kicking you to the couch for a few nights."

"But you love my funny business," he says with a wink as he reaches out with his free hand and playfully tickles Olivia's side.

She squirms and tries to stifle her laughter, but fails miserably. "Fitz, stop it," she gets out through a fit of giggles, and he only does stop when Grace stirs on his chest. The little girl slowly peeks her eyes open and looks over at Olivia, a tired smile stretching onto her face.

Olivia reaches out and runs her hand over Grace's soft curls, "Shhh, it's okay sweet pea, you can go back to sleep."

"Mommy play," Grace says in her fake whisper, and she begins to sit up, tucking her feet under herself.

"It's too early to play, Gracie," Olivia says softly, and she holds her hand out for Grace to grab so she can stand up. "Why don't you come cuddle with Mommy?"

"No," Grace says sternly. "Play."

"Who are you going to play with?" Olivia asks as Grace moves to sit in between her parents, "Everyone's still sleeping."

Olivia and Fitz both close their eyes, and Grace looks back and forth between them a few times. "Mommy up," she finally says, and she sits up on her knees and tries to peel Olivia's eye open with her fingers.

Olivia grabs the little girl's hand and brings it to her mouth playfully eating it, and Grace squeals and giggles as her hand is kissed by Olivia. She turns to Fitz once she's controlled her laughter and points to him even though his eyes are closed too. "Daddy up?" she asks curiously, and Fitz starts fake snoring.

Grace once again looks between Olivia and Fitz, and after a minute of Fitz's fake snores, Grace moves forward and grabs his nose. "Daddy no," she whispers, and Fitz opens his eyes, a smile on his face.

"Can Daddy have a kiss?" Fitz asks once he's pried the tiny hand from his nose. Grace nods her head and leans in to kiss Fitz's cheek.

"Does Gracie want a kiss?" Fitz asks as he sits up and pulls the little girl into his lap, meeting Olivia's gaze as he looks down. Grace nods and puckers her lips before she closes her eyes and waits for Fitz to kiss her.

He turns the little girl around in his arms and whispers to her, "I think Mommy wants a kiss."

Grace smiles and crawls forward to Olivia, placing an exaggerated kiss on her cheek. "Can Mommy have an Eskimo kiss?" Olivia asks with a smile as Grace's face is inches from her own.

Grace leans forward and closes the gap in between them, bringing her nose to Olivia's, gently brushing it back and forth. She pulls back and looks at Olivia with a smile, and Olivia sits up and gathers her into her arms. "I love you sweet pea."

Grace leans back against Olivia's chest and picks up her hand, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it. "Mommy, love mine."

Fitz reaches in and pokes the little girl's chubby belly, "Say 'I love Daddy'."

Grace looks up at Olivia with a curious look on her face, and Fitz repeats his instructions, laughing when Grace squeals, "Daddy love!"

Olivia's stomach suddenly rumbles, and Grace jumps out of her arms, turning to look at her a few seconds later, "Grrrrrrr."

Fitz pulls her back into his lap and whispers in her ear, "I think that Mommy's hungry, Gracie. Do you want some breakfast too?"

Grace turns her head to look up at him, "Food?"

"Yep food," Fitz confirms, and Grace's face instantly lights up.

"Food mine!" she squeals out as Olivia gets off the bed and lifts Grace onto her hip. "C'mon sweet pea, let's go wake up Teddy while Daddy starts making breakfast."

"Tedddddddy," Grace sings out, and she starts squirming out of Olivia's arms, "Mommy down!"

Olivia puts her back on her feet and Grace quickly runs out of their bedroom toward Teddy's room, Olivia following close sky behind her. Grace pushes the door open and Teddy sits up in his bed, already awake.

"Tedddddy!" Grace calls out again with a giggle as Olivia lifts her onto his bed, taking a seat of her own on the edge.

"Good morning kiddo," Olivia greets with a smile and kiss to his temple, and Grace crawls over to mimic Olivia and kiss his temple too.

"Can we have pancakes for breakfast?" Teddy asks with an excited smile, and Olivia laughs at the pure joy on his face when she shrugs her shoulders and agrees.

Teddy gets out of bed and runs toward the stairs to make sure Fitz gets the pancakes memo, and Grace follows him out of the room, quickly walking to Karen's door and pushing it open. "Kan! Kan!" she yells loudly before Olivia has the chance to stop her.

Karen rolls over in her bed and looks at Grace standing at the door with an excited smile on her face. Karen opens her arms, and Grace runs toward her, giggling as Karen pulls her up onto the bed. Grace stands and starts bouncing around the bed, unceremoniously losing her balance and falling on top of Karen.

Karen sits up and pulls Grace into her lap, kissing the top of her head. "Do you wanna go wake up Jason too?" she coos to the little girl as she rubs her eyes and throws her hair up into a messy bun.

Grace looks up at her curiously, but allows Karen to pick her up and place her on her hip. They walk down the hall to the room Jason was staying in, but when Karen opens the door she finds the room empty. Grace looks at her sister again, "Gerrrrrry?"

"Hey good idea, let's go wake up Gerry," she says with a smile as they walk back down the hall to Gerry's room.

Karen allows Grace to reach down and help turn the handle, and she walks into the room quietly, tiptoeing over to Gerry's bed. She gently places Grace down onto the bed next to his ear, and Grace leans over it, "Gerry up! Up!"

Gerry instinctively rolls over in his bed and corrals Grace into his arms with his eyes still closed.

She squirms and giggles as he hold her with one hand and simultaneously tickles her with the other. "Up Ger! Noooooooo!" she squeals out through another fit of giggles.

Gerry gets up and hands Grace back to Karen, and all three kids go down to the kitchen together, surprised when they find Jason helping Fitz cook as Olivia and Teddy look at the comics in the newspaper together.

Karen walks into the kitchen and kisses Jason, and once she's stepped back she notices Grace's puckered lips. "Gracie needs her kisses too," Karen tells Jason with a smile, and he leans in to kiss her cheek without hesitation.

Grace giggles in appreciation and reaches out for Fitz to take her as he walks by. He puts the little girl on his hip and continues flipping pancakes as Jason tends the bacon and starts prepping the eggs.

"Hey Ted," Gerry says trying to get Teddy's attention, "why don't you help me set the table?"

"Alright fine, but hold on one sec," he says without bothering to look up from the paper.

"Does anyone have a preference on how I should cook the eggs?" Jason asks, looking around the kitchen at all the hungry faces.

"I want mine soupy!" Teddy says excitedly as he carries a few plates to the table.

"You can just scramble them all," Olivia says, and she sees the pout come across Teddy's face."But I want them soupy!"

"Ted," Gerry says as Teddy comes back from delivering dishes to the table, "if they're scrambled then I can make you a breakfast burrito. How's that sound?"

"Like that time at your college?" he asks excitedly, the idea of over easy eggs already forgotten.

Gerry nods and hands him another small stack of plates. "Just like at college."

"Cool," Teddy says with a smile, and he goes back to contently setting the table.

"Alright scrambled it is," Jason says with a smile, and he goes back to focusing on cooking.

Grace leans from Fitz over to Jason and holds her arms out to be held by him, and he hesitates for a second before taking the little girl and placing her on his hip. "Good morning pretty girl," he says with a smile, and Grace happily lays her head against his shoulder, watching as he flips the sizzling bacon and sprinkles cheese on the eggs.

Olivia walks up behind Karen and whispers into her ear, "I think he's a keeper."

Karen nods and watches as Jason talks to Grace and cooks, loving how two of her favorite people seem to be bonding so well.

"Hey Dad, do you think Tom would be cool with us checking out those hiking trails we were talking about yesterday?" Gerry asks as everyone sits down to eat, Grace demanding to have her high chair moved next to Jason.

"Yeah I think that sounds like fun," he says, and then turns to Jason, "Do they do much hiking down in Florida?"

He shakes his head. "No sir, we've most just got swamps and beaches down there. Our only mountains are the dump."

"Wow that's awesome," Teddy says with a bring smile as he grabs a few too many pieces of bacon, and Olivia gives him a look to put half back. "Have you even been?"

Jason laughs, "Yeah once actually. We too a field trip there back when I was younger."

"Cool," Teddy says with his mouth full of bacon and a smile, "Daddy can we go to the dump?"

"Why would you want to go to the dump?" Fitz asks with a laugh.

"To see stuff get smashed!" Teddy says excitedly, and he bangs his fists down on the table, clattering a few forks.

"I'm sure it smells pretty bad there, bud," Olivia says after she gives Teddy a warning look for banging on the table.

"Yeah," Jason laughs, "it was actually pretty gross. You'd probably like the beach better."

"We had a campaign stop in South Beach and the water was absolutely beautiful. Crystal clear and blue," Olivia says with a small smile as she remembers the trip.

"Oh I remember that trip, Livvie," Fitz says with a knowing grin, remembering back to their night together on a private yacht out in Biscayne Bay.

"South Beach is nice, but there's just always so many tourists and drunken college kids," Jason says, and he looks over to Olivia for permission to give Grace another scoop of eggs, and when she nods he spoons some more onto her tray as she claps happily.

"Do you live in Disney World?" Teddy asks excitedly, and Karen rolls her eyes at him.

"No he doesn't live in Disney World," she laughs, "but I'd bet you'd love to visit if he did."

Teddy nods enthusiastically, and Fitz arches an eyebrow, "Well Ted, maybe for your birthday this year we can take a trip, how's that sound?"

"That sounds awesome!" he says happily, "But can we go for Gracie's birthday too? We could stay forever!"

"Maybe not forever," Olivia reasons, But definitely for a few days."

"Awesome," Teddy's smile, "How far's our birthdays again?"

"Four months kid," Gerry says with a laugh, and Teddy pouts for a few seconds before shoveling another bite of food into his mouth.

"Would you want to go hiking today?" Karen asks Jason, and he quickly nods, "Yeah that sounds like fun."

"Can I come?" Teddy asks, and Gerry looks up at Fitz for an answer.

"The trails looked pretty steep, do you think you'd be able to do it?" Fitz asks, and Teddy enthusiastically nods. "I can do it."

"Gracie would you like to go for a hike?" Fitz asks the little girl and she bangs her fists on her tray in response. "Well I'll take that as a yes."

"They have a nice park at the beginning of the trails don't they?" Olivia asks as she stands and starts clearing the table.

"Yeah!" Teddy interrupts, "Me and Gerry played soccer there before!"

"Yeah, they've got like picnic tables and pavilions and a pretty big play area too," Gerry clarifies, and Teddy nods on agreement from next to his brother.

"Well why don't I pack us a nice lunch, and you guys can go hiking around while Gracie and I play," Olivia says, and everyone seems to enjoy the idea. "Do you wanna spend the day at the park with Mommy, Gracie?" Olivia asks the little girl as she wipes her hands and face before putting her down.

"Sounds good to me," Gerry says as he starts chasing Grace around the kitchen, the little girl squealing and giggling as she runs in circles.

"Why don't you all get ready to go, and I'll pack up lunch and Grace and meet you at the park?" Olivia says, and she scoops up the little girl into her arms and places a few exaggerated kisses on her face.

"Alright cool, but do you want some help with the breakfast dishes first?" Karen asks, but Olivia shakes her head. "Nah, I'll get to them later. But I would appreciate it if you'd get Gracie dressed for me."

"Not a problem," Karen says with a happy smile as she holds her arms out for Grace. She starts walking out of the kitchen with the little girl in her arms, and she turns to Jason, "C'mon, I'll show you how to change a diaper."

He laughs as they walk away, "Babe, I have three little brothers and sisters. You think I don't know how to change a diaper?"

Fitz turns to Olivia once Gerry and Teddy have also walked out of the kitchen, "Babe, you think I don't know how to change a diaper?" he mocks, and Olivia rolls her eyes and laughs.

"Be nice," she warns, and Fitz pouts for a few seconds, "Do I have to?"

She smiles and moves up on her tiptoes to kiss him, "Yes you do. How would you feel if my father would have mocked you like that?"

"But he did! He called me a whiny little spoiled rich boy!" Fitz whines, and Olivia kisses him again.

"I don't really see where he was mistaken," she says with a laugh and she swats him with a damp dish towel.

"You know," Fitz says slowly, "If you wanted to call him, I could have Tom find his number."

"I have his number, I just don't really have much to say to him," she says simply, turning to open the refrigerator and start getting the lunch stuff out.

"Okay well, whatever you want to do," he says with a reassuring smile. "Do you want me to go out and grab the cooler?"

"Yes please," she replies, "The blue one with the big wheels."

He runs out to the garage and grabs the cooler and then goes upstairs to get dressed, finding all four kids and Gracie ready to go and waiting for him in the living room when he finally comes down the stairs. Olivia comes in and takes Grace from Gerry, and when the little girl sees them all walk to the door and realizes that she's not going with them, she starts crying and tries to squirm away from Olivia.

They close the door, and when Karen turns around to look at it, she sees Grace's tear stained face pressed up against the glass beside the door, her cheeks puffy and red. "Aww look at that little face?" Karen says, and Gerry, Fitz, and Jason turn around.

Gerry signs to her 'I love you' and she reluctantly mimics his motions, still crying into the window. And Fitz watches as Olivia comes up behind her and lifts her flailing body into her arms, bringing her back over to play in the living room.

"She could still come with us," Gerry says to Fitz when he notices his father's face.

"No no, she's better off staying with Mom and playing in the park," he says, and they load up into the car and drive the few miles to the park.

"Whoa Dad, look!" Teddy calls out as he runs a few feet ahead of everyone and squats down to look at someone on the trail.

Karen comes over behind him and looks over his shoulder, "Gross Teddy, that's poop."

"Yeah!" he says excitedly, "Do you think it could be Bigfoot's?"

Gerry and Fitz both laugh, and Jason pats his shoulder, "Nah bud, I think it's just a deer's."

"Aw man," he groans, and then he runs forward again, Fitz and Gerry following closely behind as Karen and Jason bring up the rear.

"Turn around nonchalantly and see what they're doing," Gerry whispers to Fitz, and Fitz looks over at his son. "No you do it. If she tells Mom that I'm checking up on her I'm gonna get in trouble."

"Oh you mean like last night when you checked rooms three times," Gerry whispers back, and Fitz gives him a dirty look. "Check!"

Gerry casually turns around and then looks forward again, "Handholding, no kissing," he reports back, and Fitz nods.

They get up to the middle of the trail right before it begins to loop back where it over looks a lake. Gerry and Teddy look over the edge of the cliff down at the lake, and Gerry turns to Teddy. "Wanna jump?"

"Into the lake?" he asks somewhat confused.

"Yeah c'mon, it's not that far down."

"I don't know," he says timidly as he looks down again.

Gerry turns and asks Karen and Jason, "You guys wanna jump?"

"Hell no," Karen says quickly, and Teddy whips around the look at her. "You said a swear!"

Fitz laughs. "Ut oh, Karen said a swear, now she's gotta jump!" he declares, and Karen takes a few steps back, shaking her head the whole time.

Teddy looks down at the water again, "How do we get back up?" And Jason points to a trail that razors up the cliff.

"Okay I'll do it," Teddy says confidently, quickly adding, "But only if you come too Gerry."

"Alright," and he takes off his shoes and socks and strips down to his boxers, Teddy doing the same.

"Ready, one, two, three," Gerry counts off, and on three Teddy jumps but Gerry doesn't. He goes flying down into the water with a loud splash, and a few second after he's landed, Gerry goes flipping off the edge too.

Fitz, Karen, and Jason wait up at the top for them to come back, and after a few minutes they see Teddy running up the trail, Gerry following close behind.

"It's so cold," he says, and his little body shivers as he finally makes it back up.

"Here," Karen says as she fishes out a small towel from her backpack and hands it to Teddy.

"Got one of those for me?" Gerry asks with a laugh, and Karen nods, "Nope sorry. You're going to have to share."

They dry off as much as possible and put their clothes and shoes back on and start the path back toward the park, Teddy still running ahead of everyone. He gets back to the little playground first and finds Olivia over pushing Grace on the swings so he runs over and sits on the one next to them.

"Why's your hair wet, bud?" Olivia asks as she continues to lightly push Grace on the baby swings.

"Me and Gerry jumped off the mountain and went for a swim," Teddy informs her with a proud smile, and he waves over Gerry and Fitz as he sees them come off the trail.

Olivia arches an eyebrow at him, "Wow kiddo," and she smiles at Gerry and Fitz as they get closer.

Fitz walks up and kisses Olivia's cheek before stepping to the side to move into Grace's line of vision, the baby girl instantly smiling and reaching for him. "How's Daddy's girl?" he coos to Grace as he lifts her into his arms.

"She's mysteriously lagging behind with Mr. Douche," Gerry says with a smirk, and Fitz shoots him a disapproving look.

"What's a doche?" Teddy asks innocently as Gerry laughs and Fitz shoots him another dirty look.

"It's a bad word honey, and Gerry should not be saying it much less calling someone it," Olivia explains and Teddy seems to accept her response has he changes the subject. "I'm hungry, Momma."

"Okay well your dad's gonna go get the cooler and when I get everything set up I'll call you all," Olivia says with a kind smile, and she gives him a push before walking away.

Fitz goes out to the car to get the food just as Jason and Karen finally make it off the path. Karen runs over to Teddy on the swings while Jason stays by the tables to help Olivia get things ready on the picnic table.

"Thank you, Jason," she says with a kind smile as they finish spreading out the plastic table cloth.

"No problem. My Dad taught me from an early age to appreciate a good picnic," he returns as he reaches into a brown paper bag to get out the plastic silverware.

"Oh," she says as she stops pulling at the ends of the plastic to get rid of some wrinkles, "are you two close?"

Jason's face lights up as he looks over at her, "Yeah. He's kind of my best friend, we talk every day."

"That's sweet," she says softly.

"Yeah, there's nothing like a life chat with your dad," he says, and Olivia goes back to sorting things out of the bag as Fitz trudges over with the loaded cooler.

He opens the cooler and pulls out the fixings for the sandwiches and a few bags of chips, looking over toward the swings once he's finished. "C'mon kids, lunch is ready!"


	10. Heart Pt1

"God you look sexy carrying my child," Fitz says with a suggestive smirk as he walks into the kitchen and takes a seat on a stool at the island.

Olivia rolls her eyes and smiles. "Actually I'm pretty sure it's my tear-stained t shirt that you're finding sexy," Olivia replies as she continues to sway back and forth with a crying Grace in her arms.

He gives her an exaggerated once over and then makes eye contact again, "Nope, not the t shirt, but maybe it's the jeans. I've always loved your ass in those."

"Fitz," Olivia whispers out harshly, but she can't fight the smile that spreads across her face. "After the week I've had with this one," Olivia says as she gestures down to Grace with her head, "The last thing I need right now is for her to ask us what a-s-s means."

"She's not even two yet, Livvie," he says as he takes a sip of his beer, "She may be pretty smart, but she's not that smart."

Olivia adjusts Grace in her arms and kisses her red, tear-stained face, "You're smart, right Gracie bear? Tell Daddy that you're the smartest little girl in the world like your momma."

Grace grabs onto her shoulder again and nuzzles her face back into Olivia's neck, continuing to sob. "Has she been like this all day?" Fitz asks as he stands and rounds the island, trying to lift Grace from Olivia and into his own arms, but she fights him so he relents and leans back against the counter facing them.

Olivia adjusts Grace again and then continues to sway back and forth, "She was fine this morning through breakfast and taking Teddy to school, but about an hour after we got back it started again."

Fitz studies the little girl for a few moments, "I think something may be wrong, Liv. Look at the way she's clutching her shoulder. Maybe she fell on it."

Olivia presses a kiss to the top of Grace's head, "She was playing in the living room for a few minutes while I was on the phone with Karen. She may have bumped it on the table or something."

"She started crying in the living room?" Fitz asks, and Olivia nods. "Does it always start in the living room?"

"No," Olivia says after pausing for a few seconds to think, "Yesterday it was outside while she was playing in the sprinkler, and Sunday it was the pool." Olivia looks up at him, "And that night she was in her crib." She shrugs, "I don't know, maybe it's just a comfortable position for her to sit in."

"Could be," he reasons, but he isn't convinced. He reaches out again to take Grace from Olivia, and after a few moments of protest, Grace wiggles into his arms and wraps an arm around his neck, the other still tightly clutched to her shoulder.

He pulls her away from his body and sits her on the kitchen counter after a few moments, and Grace's sobs become even louder. "Grace, Grace, listen to me. You need to stop crying, shhh, it's okay baby," he coos as he tries to tame her flailing body.

Olivia takes a few steps forward and holds Grace securely on the counter as Fitz carefully takes off her shirt and inspects her shoulder, finding nothing that appears to be the cause of her crying. Grace reaches out for Olivia again, and after a few seconds of watching her daughter cry, she lifts her back into her arms and starts rubbing her back.

"I'm going to go up and change her diaper and see if I can get her to sleep for a while. She wouldn't go down for a nap earlier," Olivia says, speaking loud enough for Fitz to hear her over Grace. "Can you go get Teddy? He's across the street at the Smith's playing basketball with Collin but it's time for homework."

"Sure," Fitz agrees and he runs a soothing hand over Grace's curls before walking out towards to front door to go and get Teddy.

Olivia goes upstairs and sits down on their bed, moving Grace in her arms to rock her like a newborn. "I don't know what to do for you, sweet pea," Olivia says softly as Grace stares up at her, fighting to breathe as she continues to cry. "Does your shoulder hurt?" she asks, and moves her hand over top of Grace's on the shoulder, "Did you fall down and bump it, Gracie? God I wish you could just tell me what's wrong so I can fix it for you."

She pulls Grace close against her chest and leans back against the wall of decorative pillows on the bed, pressing kisses to the top of the little girl's head as she rubs her back and hums. Grace settles for a few minutes, but as soon as Olivia sits up to takes her into her room to change her diaper, she starts sobbing again, her cries louder and more piercing than ever before.

Olivia changes the little girl, and as she goes to put her pants back on, she notices something and instantly freezes. "Fitz!" she screams, and the panic in her voice has him and Teddy both sprinting up the stairs.

"What's wrong?" Fitz asks as they jog through the door, both panting slightly. He walks up behind Olivia and quickly notices exactly what has her so panicked.

"She's blue. Her feet are blue," Olivia says void of emotion, the only noise in the room being Grace's incessant cries. "Do I call 911?" Olivia asks a few moments later, "What do we do?"

"No, c'mon, it'll be faster if I drive," he says quickly as Olivia picks Grace back up and they run out to the car, Olivia sitting in the back seat now trying to calm two crying kids.

"Is Gracie gonna be okay?" Teddy asks softly as he looks up at Grace's bright red face.

"Yeah," Olivia says unconvincingly, and she closes her eyes as she asks herself the same question.

* * *

><p>"Twenty two month old female, tachycardic, presenting with blue extremities and obvious chest pain," Fitz hears a young female voice relay to an older man as Grace is moved from one stretcher to another.<p>

"Okay well," the older man starts as he examines the little girl, "we've got an obvious lack of oxygen flow. Get me an EKG, CT, and blood panel stat." And the older doctor turns to face Olivia and Fitz and gives them a small reassuring smile before instructing a nurse to draw the curtain around the bed. Olivia collapses into Fitz's arms and sobs against his chest as he stands there and absentmindedly stares at the white material.

"Mrs. Grant?.. Mrs. Grant?.. Mrs..." And she finally looks up at the young man in green scrubs. "Sorry, I was just…yes?" she rushes out as she tries to peek around the curtain to see Grace.

"Do you think you can get her to lie still for an EKG?" he asks, "Because if not she'll need to be sedated."

"Sedated?" Fitz questions, "She's just a little girl."

"I know, sir, and I'm sorry but to get an accurate read we need her stay still and quiet," he says apologetically, and Fitz nods slightly in understanding.

"I can try," Olivia says softly, and she follows the young doctor around the curtain and over to the tiny bed where Grace was laying.

"Daddy, is Grace okay?" Teddy asks as he looks up at his father, noticing the worry and fear on his face.

Fitz fakes a small smile and lays a hand on Teddy's shoulder, "I don't know, buddy. But they're gonna take really good care of her here."

A few tears run down Teddy's cheek, and some threaten to escape Fitz's eyes too as he reaches down and lifts Teddy into his arms, hugging him close as they listen to Grace continue to cry from the other room.

Olivia comes around the curtain a few minutes later and it's when he looks into her eyes that he finally notices the newfound silence surrounding them. "I couldn't do it," Olivia whispers as tears roll down her cheeks, "I couldn't get her to stop crying." She looks up at Fitz and almost loses it when she sees him crying too, "They sedated my baby and then asked me to go wait in the waiting room."

He pulls her in with his free arm and kisses the top of her head. "It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay. C'mon," and he leads them a few doors down the hall to the waiting room.

They both take a seat on the small couch, and Teddy sits on Olivia's lap, leaning back against her chest. "I don't have my purse," Olivia says after a few moments of agonizing silence. "What if they admit her? They'll need insurance cards and licenses and identification. I need my purse."

"Tom can bring it. I'll call Tom," Fitz says quickly, and he walks out of the room, leaving Olivia and Teddy alone in the eerie silence.

The older man who seemed to be control in the ER a few minutes prior confidently walks into the room and takes the chair across from Olivia. "Mrs. Grant," he starts, and a new set of tears stain Olivia's eyes, "Is your husband here?"

She uses her free arm to wipe her cheek and nods as Fitz walks back into the room. He takes the seat next to Olivia where he had previously been sitting and looks over at the doctor too.

"Hi Mr. Grant, I'm Dr. Lopez, the attending on Grace's case," he says slowly, his eyes full of kindness. "Your daughter is upstairs having a CT, but from her EKG results I'm fairly confident we've already nailed down the issue."

"Is she okay?" Teddy interrupts, and Dr. Lopez gives him a kind smile. "Your little sister is going to be back chasing you around in no time."

"So she's all right?" Olivia asks, but she doesn't get the response she was hoping for.

"Grace has Wolf-Parkinson-White Snydrome, or WPW. It means that inside Grace's heart there's an extra electrical pathway so when electrical signals fire, they usually bypass the correct set and fire on the accessory."

"But you can fix it," Fitz adds, and Dr. Lopez nods his head.

"A fairly simple surgery can be performed to disassemble the accessory pathway and force the heart to fire on the correct one."

"You want her to have open heart surgery?" Olivia chokes out, and Teddy wraps his arms around her neck a little tighter.

He nods slowly, "Yes. Disassembling the wrong pathway is the best treatment plan for WPW."

"What are our other options?"

"We could insert a pacemaker, or we could do nothing and restrict Grace to no physical activity."

"Why now? Olivia asks.

"While this is a very rare disease, we see it present itself a lot either around a child's first or second birthday. Walking around age one increases mobility and places some stress on the heart, and the added physicality of children around their second birthday furthers the stress."

"So it's better that it didn't flare up until two? Her heart's stronger because it can handle walking but not running?" Fitz clarifies, and the doctor shrugs his shoulders.

"I guess you could see it that way. But either way, I still recommend the surgery. It's about a two hour procedure, four day hospital stay, two weeks of recovery at home, and then your daughter can play just like she did before."

"But it's still surgery," Fitz says, and once again the doctor nods. "There are risks with each scenario here, and there are of course major risks with each surgery, but I'm fairly confident that this is her best option."

"You'd be doing the surgery?" Olivia asks, and he shakes his head. "While I'm a fairly talented cardiologist, I'm not a pediatric cardiologist, so I would feel more comfortable handing Grace's case over to my partner."

"No one wants to be the one to kill the President's kid," Fitz mumbles under his breath and Olivia gives him a menacing look, "Don't you ever say that again," and she turns back to the doctor, "When can I see my baby?"

"She's still getting a CT, but I can have a nurse show you to the room she'll be in once she's officially admitted," he says as he stands and extends his hand for Fitz and then Olivia.

They go upstairs and wait in the room slated for Grace for a while until a few nurses carefully carry her into the room and lay her still body in the bed, attaching the wires connected to her chest behind her into the wall. Olivia moves the railing for the bed down and sits on the edge and pulls Grace's awake but limp body into her arms, holding the little girl close to herself. Fitz walks up behind her and reaches to brush the little girl's cheek softly with his finger. Olivia presses a few soft kisses to Grace's forehead and then turns to look at Fitz with tears streaming down her face, "What are we going to do?"


	11. Heart Pt2

**I'm really sorry that I left you all hanging for so long. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p>Olivia nervously paces the long hospital corridor, effectively etching circular track marks in the tile from her constant movement. She pauses for a hopeful moment when a door to one of the operating rooms is pushed open, but she quickly resumes her pacing when she realizes it's not only the wrong room, but the wrong doctor. He walks into the family waiting room and finds the family of the man he had just operated on, bowing his head in defeat as he delivers the unfortunate prognosis. Karen and Gerry watch on from their seats on either side of Fitz, tears flooding their eyes as they watch the family in front of them fall apart.<p>

"Livvie, honey, why don't you come sit down," Fitz suggests as he stands to offer her his seat, her constant pacing beginning to get to him.

Olivia pauses for a moment and considers his offer, taking a few steps toward the waiting area before effectively collapsing into Fitz's arms as he lunges out to catch her. "Liv? Olivia? Olivia!" he stammers out, gently shaking her limp body to awaken her again.

A nurse notices the scene from her seat at the nurses' station and rushes over to them, helping Fitz seat her in the closest chair. Tears begin to roll down Karen's cheeks and Gerry pulls her into a hug as they watch Olivia come to and the nurse examine her, Fitz hovering close by.

"Mrs. Grant I think you should go downstairs and see a doctor in the ER. Your pulse is dangerously low and they're better equipped to tell you the cause of this down there," the nurse says after her short exam.

Olivia looks up at Fitz with tears in her eyes and then turns her attention to the nurse, "I can't leave. I can't leave Gracie."

"Please listen to her, Livvie. You need to get yourself checked out," Fitz tries to reason, but Olivia shakes her head. "I won't leave her, Fitz. She's my baby."

"Mrs. Grant, Grace's surgery will likely take at least another hour, that's plenty of time for you to have an ER doctor run a few tests," the nurse says politely, but Olivia still refuses. "I'm not going anywhere until I know that she's all right."

"What if I have someone come up here, examine you in a room down the hall? Would you be comfortable doing that?" the nurse asks, and after a few moments of consideration and wordless prompting from Fitz, Olivia relents and slightly nods her head in agreement.

The nurse leads Olivia down the hall a few doors with Karen following closely behind and instructs her to have a seat on the paper covered table, telling her a doctor would be in to see her shortly. "You don't have to wait in here with me, Kare," Olivia says with a sad smile.

"I know, but I want to," Karen responds simply, and she moves over to sit next to Olivia on the table, giving her a hug once she's seated comfortably. "Gracie's gonna be okay, Mom. She has to be," Karen says quietly into Olivia's shoulder.

"I really hope so, Kare," Olivia whispers into Karen's hair as she runs a hand up and down her back. "Thank you for coming home from school for the weekend. Grace is going to be so happy to see you two when she wakes up."

Karen acknowledges Olivia's statement with a slight nod and continues to cry into her shoulder until there's a decisive knock on the door.

A young, handsome man in a white coat enters the room with a disarming smile and glances down at the chart in his hand before looking back up at Olivia and Karen. "Well it says here that a Mrs. Grant fainted not too long ago and needs a work up. To which Mrs. Grant is my trusty chart referring?"

Olivia presses a quick kiss to Karen's hair and releases her arms around her as Karen jumps off the table and sits on a nearby stool, leaving her alone on the table. "That would be me," she says kindly, "But please call me Olivia."

"Okay Olivia, I'm Dr. Peters," the man says with a charming smile, before glancing back down at the chart. "I'd like to do a quick blood test and get a urine sample if you don't mind." And when Olivia nods in agreement, he peeks his head out the door and a nurse enters with the needed supplies, leaving a few minutes later after she'd finished her duties. Dr. Peters does a quick physical exam and then excuses himself, promising to return the second he has her results.

Karen hops back up on the table and into Olivia's embrace, both women sitting in silence while they wait for the doctor. "Are you feeling better?" Karen asks quietly, trying to break the eerie silence.

"Yeah, kiddo, just a little over tired and under nourished I think. I'm sure that's all this is," Olivia responds equally as quiet, running her fingers softly through Karen's long hair.

"Okay," Karen whispers, "Do you want me to go get Dad?"

Olivia shakes her head and tells Karen that she'll be fine, and they sit in silence again for another few minutes until Dr. Peters finally comes back into the room.

"Well Mrs. Grant," he starts, taking a seat on the rolling stool in the room, "It seems to be that you're severely dehydrated and pregnant."

Olivia furrows her brows and shakes her head, "I can't be pregnant. I have my period right now."

"I'm afraid blood tests don't lie, Mrs. Grant," Dr. Peters says with kind smile. "You could just be spotting, but you are definitely pregnant. And I'm no GYN but from your hormone levels, I would bet you're at least eight or nine weeks along."

Olivia stares at the young doctor stunned, and Karen looks on with a small smile creeping onto her face.

"I'm going to send in an ultrasound tech to get you a look at your baby," he says as he pulls out a pad of paper from his lab coat pocket, "And here's a prescription for some prenatal vitamins. I'm sure you know the drill with these already."

Olivia accepts the paper and mindlessly places it into her purse, shaking Dr. Peters' hand and watching as he leaves the room in silence. "Do you want me to go get Dad?" Karen asks again apprehensively when she notices the blank stare on Olivia's face. But before Olivia can answer her, a soft knock rings through the room and an elderly woman in pink scrubs enters, wheeling in a large ultrasound machine.

"Mrs. Grant," she says with a kind smile as she extends her hand for Olivia to shake, and she nods politely at Karen who once again hops off the bed and heads to the door.

"No wait, Kare" Olivia says, "You can stay if you want."

Karen turns around with a small smile and walks back over to Olivia as she lies back and raises her shirt, revealing her flat abdomen. Karen once again sits on the stool and takes Olivia's hand, watching as the older woman sets up the machine and squirts blue gel onto Olivia's exposed flesh. "This may be cold dear," she says kindly and begins to glide the wand around.

"This is so cool," Karen whispers as she watches on in wonder, her eyes never leaving the monitor.

The older woman moves the wand around for a few seconds and then stills it, and a few seconds later a familiar noise overtakes the silent room, bringing tears to Olivia's eyes. "There's your baby," the tech says kindly, pointing to a small blob on the screen, "Heartbeat is strong. Baby looks good."

"Is it a boy or girl?" Karen asks excitedly, and the tech gives her a kind smile. "Oh honey, it's much too early for us to see that. Maybe another six to eight weeks even."

"Oh," Karen says embarrassedly, and Olivia places a gentle hand on her cheek, giving her a smile.

The older woman prints out a few photos of the baby for Olivia and hands her a towel to clean up with before packing up her machine and exiting the room with a kind goodbye. Olivia and Karen sit in silence for a few moments while they examine the pictures, and Karen smiles up at Olivia. "This is so awesome. I hope it's another girl so I'll have another little sister to spoil."

"A healthy baby," Olivia corrects with a kind smile as she buttons her jeans and slips off the table, wrapping Karen in and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm glad you were here to share this with me, Kare."

"Me too, Mom," Karen says with a wide smile as they walk back down the hall toward the surgical waiting area, "It distracted me from worrying about Gracie, and hearing that heartbeat was literally the coolest thing ever. Babies are so awesome!"

Olivia smiles and nods in agreement, pausing outside the waiting room doors. "Oh my gosh, are you going to tell Dad? And Gerry? I totally should have gone and gotten them! I'm sorry," Karen rushes out, and Olivia shakes her head.

They walk into the room and Fitz quickly stands, making his way over to Olivia, his eyes full of fear and curiosity. But before he can ask her a question, she holds up one of the ultrasound pictures and smiles at him, watching his facial expressions change as he takes in the moment.

"You?" he chokes out, and she shakes her head with a smile, wrapping her arms around his neck as he picks her up and spins her for a few seconds.

"Eight weeks," she whispers into his ear, and he kisses her forehead as he puts her back down. "Any word from Grace's doctors?"

Fitz shakes his head and he and Olivia return to their seats, Gerry giving them both a congratulatory hug as Karen passes him another ultrasound photo.

"I love you so much, Livvie. I can't believe we're having another baby," Fitz whispers into Olivia's ear and then kisses her temple, tightening his arms around her.

A small smile plays out across Olivia's face and she leans her head back against Fitz's shoulder, brushing the few curls from his forehead and pressing a kiss to the exposed skin. "I love you too," she whispers back, and after a few more minutes of silence, tears start streaming down her cheeks so she gets up to go to the bathroom down the hall.

When she finally comes out, she finds Fitz standing outside the door, fear and worry in his eyes. "Are you okay, Liv?" he asks as he pulls her into a quick hug.

She pulls back and looks up at him for a few seconds before burying her face into his chest, crying once again. "I just…all I can think of is…what if this baby never gets to meet Grace…what if we lose her, Fitz? I can't lose her." Olivia sobs into his chest, and Fitz tightens his arms around her once again.

"It's all going to be okay. Grace is a little fighter, Liv. She isn't going anywhere, not for a very long time. And this baby is going to grow up with both of its big brothers and sisters. Everything is going to be fine, baby."

Olivia looks back up at him. "I'm scarred, Fitz," she whispers, and he places another kiss to the top of her head. "I know you are; I'm scarred too," he admits, and as he starts to lead her back down the hall to the waiting room, Grace's doctor rushes out of the OR and walks over to Olivia and Fitz when she sees them in the hall together.

She peels off her scrub cap and smiles. "Your little girl is one tough cookie, Mr. and Mrs. Grant. From the look of her heart she must have been in pain for a while, but thankfully I was able to get everything rewired and working smoothly. I'm fairly confident that the surgery was a complete success and Grace will be back to her normal self in no time."

Both Olivia and Fitz let out audible sighs of relief, and Olivia leaves Fitz's arms and hugs the young doctor. "Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you for helping my baby girl."

The doctor smiles, "It was my pleasure. Grace should be in recovery for about another thirty minutes and then she'll be moved back into her room. I'll be by later tonight to check on her progress and examine her. Nancy can show you back upstairs."

Fitz shakes her hand and after she's turned to leave, he picks up Olivia and spins her around carefully. He leans in and kisses her for a few seconds, but Olivia pulls back when an announcement plays over the PA and brings them back to reality. "Last time we did that was when you won the presidency the first time," Olivia says with a small smile as they walk back to the waiting room to get Karen and Gerry before they go upstairs to Grace's room.

"Hmm, well this time I'm much happier and so much more relieved," he says with a laugh, and as soon as they walk into the room, Karen and Gerry both jump up and walk over to them.

"Why are you smiling? Did you hear something? Is she okay? Is she awake?" Gerry and Karen both question quickly, not letting Fitz nor Olivia get a word in edgewise.

"She's out of surgery and in recovery," Olivia says with a smile, and Karen crashes into Olivia's arms, Gerry doing the same to Fitz.

They all go back up to Grace's private room, and while they wait for Grace to get out of recovery, Fitz calls Tom and asks him to bring Teddy back over to the hospital as Olivia and the two kids sit patiently together on the small couch discussing friends, college and upcoming exams.

Out in the hall, Fitz sees two men wheeling Grace's bed down the hall, and they stop when they reach Fitz, allowing him to lean in and press a kiss to the little girl's forehead. He takes in her tiny, sleeping form, and notices the large white bandage and wires that cover most of her chest. The sight finally brings him to tears and he quickly follows behind the bed back into the room.

Olivia rushes over to the bed and runs her fingers through Grace's curls as she presses a few kisses to the little girl's forehead, mindful of the wires connected to her body. Gerry and Karen walk around to the other side of the bed and Gerry takes the little girl's hand as Karen stops to look at Fitz, wrapping her arms around his middle as he hugs her. "It's okay, Daddy. She's going to be okay."

Fitz kisses the top of her hair and holds her for a few minutes, watching as Gerry walks over to embrace Olivia. Eventually everyone goes back to sitting on the couch, except for Olivia who stays close to Grace's bed, and they stay like that until Teddy and Tom arrive. Teddy immediately runs to Olivia and climbs up onto her lap, clinging to her like she's his life source.

Gerry and Karen eventually decide that they're hungry so Fitz takes them and Teddy down to the cafeteria, but Olivia still refuses to leave Grace's side so she sits with the sleeping girl and starts humming and talking to her.

"Hi sweet girl," she whispers softly as she strokes Grace's curls, "Mommy loves you so much Gracie…My precious, sweet baby girl…Karen and Gerry came home this weekend just for you, kiddo…they'll be here when you wake up…and Teddy and Daddy too…everyone's here for you Gracie…we all love you so much…please wake up, Grace…Mommy needs you to wake up, sweet pea…I need to look into your beautiful eyes, baby, and see that little smile…I miss your smile, Gracie…I hope now you'll feel better and can smile more…your doctor said that you were in so much pain for so long…I'm sorry that we never noticed…I'm so sorry, Grace…I promise that I'll never let anything or anyone hurt you ever again…you're so strong, baby girl…and you are so loved…please come back to us…I need you, Daddy needs you, Karen, Gerry, and Teddy need you…and this new itty bitty baby needs you…you're his or her big sister, Gracie…I'll give you the world, sweet girl, just please come back to me."

"Mrs. Grant," a nurse says softly as she peeks her head in the door, before entering with a vase of white lilies, "These were left for Grace at the nurses' station." She places the flowers on a table near the window with a smile and then proceeds to check Grace's vitals and the machines behind her.

"Is she going to wake up soon?" Olivia asks nervously as she takes Grace's hand again.

"Different bodies metabolize anesthesia at different rates, so realistically Grace could wake up anytime from here until tomorrow morning," the nurse says kindly, glancing at Grace's chart again. "Dr. Levy will be in in a few minutes to check up on her one more time before she leaves for the night, and I'm Emily, I'll be her nurse for tonight."

Olivia nods her head, "Thank you so much, for everything." And Emily gives her a polite smile before stepping toward the door. "Do you need anything, Mrs. Grant? A cot to sleep on? Something to eat?"

Olivia thinks for a few moments. "Maybe just some water; they said I was pretty dehydrated earlier."

"Not a problem, I'll have someone bring you a pitcher and glass right away," Emily says with a kind smile.

"Thank you," she replies, and Emily goes to leave the room but Olivia stops her at the last moment, "Do you know who sent the flowers?"

"An older gentleman brought them up, said they were handpicked from his garden and hoped Grace was feeling better soon," Emily informs her before promptly leaving again.

"Wow Gracie, even Uncle Cy is thinking about you…he brought you some very pretty flowers, kiddo…lilies…I used to love lilies when I was your age…me and my mom would cut them from the garden and I would play with the pollen for hours…she used to threaten to only buy me yellow clothes so I wouldn't always look so messy," Olivia whispers as she lays her head on Grace's pillow for a few seconds and kisses her temple. "I'm just going to text Uncle Cyrus really quick and thank him for the flowers, and then I'll sing you another song until Dr. Levy comes in."

She digs through her purse and finds her phone. _Thank you for the flowers, Cyrus. They're beautiful. Grace is out of surgery, and we're just waiting for her to wake. You should have come in, I would have loved to see you. _

Her phone vibrates a few minutes later, pausing her singing. _That's great news about Grace, Olivia. But I didn't send you any flowers. Was planning to visit after Fitz called and told me she was awake._

As she reads the reply from Cyrus, realization hits her and she freezes. She slowly turns around to look at the flowers and just as she was about to stand to get them and throw them out, a small whimper from behind her rings out and she whips around, looking right into Grace's tired eyes.

"Oh Gracie, thank God," she says with tears in her eyes as she leans down and kisses Grace's forehead. The little girl continues to whimper as she stares up at her mother and reaches out for her, and Olivia leans in to hug her the best she can with all the wires around, intermittently pressing kisses to Grace's temple.

Fitz and the kids come back into the room a few minutes later, and as soon as they see that Grace has woken up, they run over to her bed and start talking to her and kissing her. Olivia pulls Fitz aside and looks at him worriedly, nodding to the flowers. "They're from my father."


	12. Sorry

"I can't believe you would go behind my back like this!" Olivia yells in a faux quiet voice as she paces around their bedroom, avoiding eye contact with Fitz as he sits on the edge of their bed.

"Liv—" he starts, but she quickly cuts him off again.

"You know what kind of man he is, what he's capable of. When Grace was born I thought we decided that we would protect her from all of that, that she would never have to go through what I did, that she'd never have to know what kind of monster her grandparents were!"

"I know," he says apologetically, "But Liv, I just—"

"You just what!" she yells as she finally stops pacing and turns to face him, her arms crossed in front of her.

"I thought he should know," Fitz says softly, quickly adding, "He cares about her, about you."

"He doesn't even know her! He's never even met her for God's sake. How could he possibly care about her?"

"He cares, Liv," Fitz insists, looking down at his feet when he finishes his statement.

"What aren't you telling me?" Olivia asks after studying Fitz for a few moments.

"Liv—" he starts, only to be cut off once again.

"What are you not telling me?" she demands again.

"He calls every few months—asks about you two, and the other kids—checks in. He's lonely, and you're the only family he has. He cares Olivia."

She opens and closes her mouth in shock. "I can't believe you've never told me about this. So he calls, and you two what? Chat like old friends? What do you talk about—besides me and our daughter?"

Fitz looks up at her and shrugs his shoulders, "You know, current events, what's happening in the world. How much harder his job is with Sally running the show than it was with me. The usual."

"So he calls every month and you tell him personal stuff about our family and then bitch about Sally? That's all?"

"Well," he starts, "I've given him a few pictures—of the kids, and us."

"You what?" she demands, not believing that she heard his confession correctly. "You went behind my back and gave that monster pictures of our family? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Oliv—."

"No. No, you do not get to talk. I can't believe you would do that. So what, now he has a folder on Grace like he did on me when I was a kid? Great, just great, Fitz. It's good to know that everything we talked about before she was born was just a joke to you, that the hell I went through as a child was a joke." And she turns to grab her coat off the chair in the corner of the room before quickly tugging it over her shoulders.

"Livvie, I'm sorry—" he says as he stands and tries to walk closer to her, but she pushes past him and through the door. "Where are you going?"

"To the hospital," and with that she storms down the halls, down the steps, out the front door.

Fitz walks back into their bedroom slowly, running his hand through his hair, wondering what the consequences of his confession are going to be.

_Two Weeks Later_

"Kan! Pumbin!" Grace squeals as Karen walks into the kitchen, happily smearing the insides of a pumpkin on her high chair.

"Gerry! What the heck did you give her all that crap to play with for?" Karen scolds when she sees the mess Grace is making, as Gerry and Teddy carve pumpkins on the kitchen table.

"You said a swear!" Teddy sings out happily before going back to pulling the pumpkin guts from his pumpkin.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, sorry," Karen mumbles as she scoops up from of the orange gunk from Grace's high chair and quickly runs it over to the garbage can.

"Oh c'mon, Karen. Let the kid live a little," Gerry says as he discretely puts another handful of pumpkin on Grace's highchair, him and Teddy laughing when they notice Karen notice them.

"Yeah, Kare! Come feel this stuff. It's awesome!" Teddy says, holding up a stringy mess in front of his face.

"Nah, that's quite alright. I'm good over here, thanks," she says from the kitchen as she opens the refrigerator and pulls out a plate of leftovers from last night's dinner. "God I love being home."

"You should stay forever," Teddy says with a smile as he throws another handful of gunk onto the newspaper that's covering the kitchen table.

"Maybe I just will," she says with a laugh as she grabs a fork and makes her way over to the table, sitting across from the boys with her food. "Where are Mom and Dad?" she asks after taking a few bites.

"Dad's in his office grading, and Mom went out with Abby for dinner, I think," Gerry responds as he takes a marker and starts drawing an outline on his pumpkin.

"Tahhhh!" Grace calls out as she watches Teddy continue to pull gunk from his large pumpkin.

He takes a handful and plops it onto Grace's highchair, dangling some remaining strings in front of Karen's face as he sits back down on his chair.

"Get that stuff anywhere near my dinner and I swear to you, Theodore," Karen says in a threatening voice.

Teddy gives her a wicked smile and walks around the table, trying to touch Karen with his messy hands. She gets up and starts running around the table, screaming for help as Teddy chases her. Gerry and Grace watch on as this continues for a few minutes before Fitz jogs into the kitchen. "What in the world is going on in here?" he asks, less than pleased.

Teddy and Karen freeze in place and Teddy quickly puts his hands behind his back. "Oh nothing, Dad. We're just doing the pumpkins," he says innocently as he slowly inches closer to Karen.

"Well, can you do that with a little less of the dramatics?" he asks, and then takes in Grace's messy state. "Why is your sister and the kitchen covered in pumpkin? I told you to put down newspaper and keep it clean, Jerry."

Jerry motions to the paper that is indeed covering the table. "I did put down paper, Dad. Jeeze, lighten up why don't cha."

Fitz takes another looks around the room and then looks back at Jerry. "Make sure this place and your sister get cleaned up before you all go to bed. I don't have time to be your maid right now," he says before grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator and walking back to his office.

"Jeeze, what's his problem lately?" Karen asks as she takes her seat again, catching Teddy's hands and holding them out away from her as he plops unceremoniously onto her lap.

"Him and Momma are fighting," Teddy says sadly as he slowly pushes around pumpkin gunk on the table.

"Do you know what they were fighting about?" Gerry asks as he hands Grace another tiny handful of pumpkin to keep her occupied.

"Dad did something and Momma yelled at him," Teddy informs his siblings, "I don't like it when Momma yells."

"I know, Ted," Karen says as she pulls her plate closer and takes a bite of her food, offering Teddy a forkful too, which he happily accepts, "But I'm sure they're going to work it out and everything will be back to normal in no time."

"Okay," Teddy says with a brave smile, and he turns around to look at Karen, "Can I have some more of that?"

"You already had your dinner, stinker," Karen says with a laugh before giving him some more food.

They continue to carve the pumpkins for a while and when Jerry finishes the last one, they all get up and carry them out to the front porch, placing one on each step. As the four kids get ready to go inside, a car pulls into the driveway and Grace runs over to it, waiting patiently for the door to open.

"Moooooooom!" she says happily as she launches herself into Olivia's arms, giggling as Olivia lifts her.

"Hi Gracie bear," Olivia says affectionately as she presses a kiss to the top of the little girl's head. "What's this in your hair?" she asks with a laugh as she pulls a pumpkin seed from her curls.

"Momma look at our pumpkins!" Teddy says proudly as Olivia walks up the driveway and approaches the front porch, wrapping her free arm around the little boy.

"Wow, those are great ones," Olivia says with a smile, and she places Grace down as she fishes her phone out of her purse. "Sit on the steps guys, I need a picture."

She takes a few pictures of the kids before going inside, and when she ventures into the kitchen and sees the mess she turns to look at Jerry. "I hope you plan to clean this up before you leave tomorrow," she says with a kind smile, looking down at Grace as she tugs on her leg. She lifts the little girl into her arms and kisses her cheek. "I'm going to go up and give little miss a bath, Teddy please help your brother and sister clean up and then come right up and hop into the shower, okay? It's getting pretty late."

"Okay," he says with a smile and the three older kids start cleaning as Olivia takes Grace upstairs.

Olivia gets Grace into the bathtub and sits on the closed lid of the toilet as she watches Grace play with a few of her bath toys, smiling as the little girl giggles and entertains herself. Fitz walks into the bathroom a while later, standing in the doorway for a few seconds until Grace looks up and notices him. "Daddy! My Daddy!" she calls out happily and he smiles.

"Hi my Gracie bear," he replies and he looks over at Olivia as he grabs Grace's towel from the edge of the sink and opens his arms for her.

"I can get her," Olivia says awkwardly as she turns from Grace to Fitz.

"I've got her," Fitz says as he lifts Grace from the tub. "I told Jerry or Karen to give her a bath. I don't think you should really be lifting her anymore," he says curtly before walking across the hall with Grace in his arms to get her dressed.

Olivia lets the water out of the tub and puts the toys back onto their shelf before making her way into Grace's room, sitting down in the rocking chair. Grace walks over to her as soon as she's done being dressed, and Olivia pulls her into her lap, holding the little girl against her chest as she presses kisses to her wet curls.

They rock for a few minutes, and when Grace promptly falls asleep in her mother's arms, Fitz takes her from Olivia and tucks her into bed, pressing a kiss to the little girl's forehead before walking out of the room behind Olivia.

Olivia hears Teddy's shower and is thankful that she doesn't have to go back downstairs to get him. "I'm getting pretty tired. I think I'm going to go to bed," she tells Fitz as they walk down the hall, "Can you get Teddy into bed when he's done in the shower?"

"Sure," Fitz says as she turns to walk in the direction of Teddy's bathroom.

"Fitz?" Olivia calls out a few seconds later.

"What, Liv?" he asks as he lets out a breath and turns back around.

"Can we talk?"

"Let me get Teddy to bed and then I'll come to bed," he says quietly before walking in the bathroom.

She walks into their bedroom and sits on the bed, putting her head in her hands, letting out a frustrated breath, wondering how they've let their fight spiral this far out of control. She quickly changes her clothes and crawls into bed, sitting up against the decorative pillows with a hand resting unconsciously on her slightly swollen belly as she scrolls through her email on her phone.

Fitz walks in a while later and finds Olivia asleep on top of the duvet and pillows, her phone resting on her chest. He walks around the bed and moves the phone to the nightstand and takes a blanket from the foot of the bed to cover her body before turning to walk into their bathroom.

Olivia stirs and calls out before he can make it fully into the bathroom. "No, please. No! Stop!" she mumbles in her sleep as she turns from one side to the other. "No, don't! Daddy!"

Fitz quickly walks over to her and sits on the edge of the bed, stroking her hair gently as he tries to wake her up, "Livvie? Baby wake up. You're having a bad dream."

She stirs again and her eyes pop open. "What? What happened?" she asks, confused and out of breath.

He starts to stand, "You were having a bad dream, Liv." And he turns back toward the bathroom but she stops him.

"Fitz," she calls out, "wait."

He turns around, frustrated. "What, Olivia?"

"Can we talk, please?"

"What do you want to talk about Olivia? Because over the last two weeks I've apologized about five hundred times and tried to get you to understand where I was coming from, but you've shut me out each and every time. So you know what, I'm done. I'm finished apologizing, I'm finished walking on eggshells around you. When you're ready to hear my side of it, I'll be here. But I do not want to beat around the bush anymore and have more pointless conversations anymore."

He turns and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind himself and leaving Olivia in silence. A single tear rolls down her cheek and as she sits up in bed she whispers, "I just wanted to tell you that I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning."

He comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later, feeling ashamed and guilty and needing to apologize once again, but she's not in bed. He walks down the stairs looking for Olivia and finds Karen and Jerry still in the kitchen, still cleaning. "Have you guys seen your Mom?"

"Not since she took Grace up for a bath," Karen says as she looks up from mopping the floor. "Isn't she upstairs?"

"Probably," he says exasperatedly as he takes a seat on the nearby bar stool.

"Are you two okay?" Jerry asks cautiously, turning the sink water off as he puts the last of the dinner dishes into the dishwasher.

"Yeah, everything's fine. We're just, going through some stuff, but we're fine," Fitz says unconvincingly as he stands back up. "I'm going to go find her," and he walks away, but turns back to Karen and Jerry adding, "The kitchen looks good, guys. Thank you."

He quietly walks into Teddy's room and notices that Olivia had put an extra blanket over the little boy and turned on his superman night light, so he quickly closes the door and walks across the hall to Grace's room. he slowly pushes the door open farther and instantly sees Olivia sitting in the rocking chair with a half asleep Grace in her arms. He silently moves across the room and sits on the little girl's bed, listening to Olivia softly hum to get Grace back to sleep.

Once Olivia's confident that Grace is indeed back to sleep, she stops humming and looks up at Fitz, still slowly rocking with the little girl in her arms. "I'm sorry," she says softly, looking into his eyes through the darkness.

"I just—she's the most precious thing I have, and I don't ever want her to go through what I did as a child. I would give my life to protect her from the hell that my parents caused me. I love her," Olivia says as she presses a kiss to the top of Grace's head, tears beginning to run down her face, "I love them all so much. And my father is a bad man—he's proven that again and again—I just want them safe. When you told me that you talk with him, I felt betrayed, like my wishes weren't important, belittled. Like an unimportant child again. I just—"

Fitz stands and takes Grace out of Olivia's arms, gently placing the little girl back in her bed before turning back around and extending a hand to help Olivia stand. He wipes the tears from her cheek and pulls her into a hug, intermittently pressing kisses to the top of my head, as she cries into his chest.

"C'mon," he whispers a few minutes later, slowly leading her out of Grace's room and down the hall into their own. He takes a seat on the edge of the bed and waits for her to do the same. "Olivia, I'm so sorry that I made you feel like that. Those were not my intentions in the slightest. I just—I can empathize with him. I couldn't imagine having kids and grandkids out there and not be a part of their lives. I thought I was doing the right thing. I'm sorry."

She looks up at him and wipes the rest of her tears before speaking. "I forgive you. But just—no more secret meetings with him okay? Next time I want to come, lay my thoughts and feelings out there, and if I feel like he's changed, maybe we can take Gracie to meet him sometime."

"Are you sure? Because I can stop—stop talking to him all together. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do."

"I'm sure," she says with a brave smile, looking up into his eyes.

He holds her gaze for a few moments before whispering, "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," she whispers back, leaning closer to him.

He closes the gap and captures her lips in his, kissing her slowly and thoroughly. "I've missed you so much."

"Fitz," she whispers and they crawl into bed together, "about earlier—I was trying to tell you that I have a doctor's appointment in the morning."

"But it's Sunday," he says as he pulls her back to his chest, pressing a kiss to her shoulder as his hand covers her stomach.

"Until we officially announce the pregnancy I'm trying to fly under the radar," she informs him, "This way no one will be there but Dr. Lopez."

He smiles and kisses her shoulder again, "Always the fixer. What time?"

"Eight thirty. Jerry agreed to take the kids to the park so if you want, we can go out for breakfast after my appointment."

"It's a date."

**Sorry that it's been like three thousand years. Life is crazy good right now. **


	13. School

"Have you seen this?" Olivia asks exasperatedly as she walks into Fitz's office, tossing the magazine down onto his desk on top of the stack of papers at which he was previously looking.

He quickly glances at the cover and nonchalantly tosses it back onto his desk, motioning for Olivia to walk around his desk and into his arms. She complies and he pulls her down into his lap, kissing her soundly for a few moments. "I think you look beautiful."

She picks the magazine back up off of his desk and opens it to the front page of the article, handing it to Fitz so he can read it. He looks at the headline in bold letters at the top of the page _Has Olivia Pope Let Herself Go? We Think So. _He throws it into the trash can next to his desk and looks back up at her. "Why do you even care what a trashy gossip magazine has to say? I bet you about a total of ten people have read this."

She looks at him incredulously, "They're calling me fat, Fitz. My weight gain is national news!"

"Livvie, this is not news—it's gossip. And I for one happen to love your weight gain," he says with a smile as he brings both of his hands to rest on her slightly protruding baby bump.

"Are you calling me fat now too?" She asks quickly, sitting up to look at his face.

He closes his eyes for a second and smiles, realizing the error in his words. "No, I'm saying that you are beautiful. And so sexy. You are perfect to me in every way. Stop giving these gossip columnists business by buying their stupid magazine every time they print something about you."

She considers his words for a few moments and sighs, "You're right."

He leans in again and kisses her, tightening his arms around her in the process. She pulls back after a few moments and smiles, "Maybe I'll send Huck to pay Ms. Carol Harrigan a visit."

He laughs, "She isn't worth your time, Liv. And plus, when they get wind of the baby, she's going to look like a fool."

"I want privacy this time. No big announcement, just a little press blurb leaked when we can't hide it anymore, and another leaked a few days after the baby's born—name and gender, that's it. I'll have Abby do it."

"Whatever you want," he says with a smile, pecking her lips again. "But speaking of babies, where's our other one?"

"Lisa took her when I was walking in the building—said she would watch her for a few minutes while we talked."  
>He smiles and leans down, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to her neck, "Best. Secretary. Ever." He kisses her there a few more times before moving his mouth back to hers. And just as she's about to shift in his lap to straddle him, they hear Grace giggling as she runs down the hallway, Lisa chasing closely behind her. Olivia quickly sits up and wipes the lipstick from Fitz's mouth as best she can, turning to look toward the door when Grace enters.<p>

"Daddy! Look!" she says excitedly as she holds up her hand, the string from a purple balloon clutched tightly in her little fist.

"Wow, sweet pea. Did Miss Lisa get that for you?" he asks animatedly, smiling at the little girl's excitement.

"No a boy gave me it," she says confidently, and both Olivia and Lisa laugh when they see Fitz's face momentarily change.

"Some of the students were handing them out as part of their suicide awareness campaign this week," Lisa clarifies, and Fitz nods in understanding.

"Good. You're way too young to have boys interested in you, sweet pea," he says breathing a sigh of relief.

Lisa nods her head in amusement and takes a step backwards, "I'm going to get back to work. Thanks for letting me take her around for a few minutes."

"No, no, thank you," Olivia says with a kind smile before turning to look down at Grace, "What do you say to Miss Lisa for getting you the balloon, Gracie?"

"Thank you very much," she says with a smile, running over to give Lisa a hug but accidently letting go of the balloon in the process.

"Ut oh!" she says once she's released from Lisa's arms and notices her balloon. "Help help!"

"And what's the magic word?" Olivia asks as she stands to grab the balloon for Grace.

"Help?" Grace asks inquisitively, furrowing her eyebrows at the question.

Olivia smiles. "What do we say when we want something, Grace?"

"Ohhhh," she says quietly, the realization hitting her, "Please!"

"Good job, sweet pea," Olivia says with a kind smile as she takes the balloon and loosely ties the string around Grace's wrist. "There, now you shouldn't lose it again."

"Thank you, Mommy!" she says happily, pulling the balloon down to her level and giving it a hug. "I love you, ba-oon."

Fitz and Olivia look at each other and smile before looking back over at their little girl. "Does your balloon have a name, Gracie?" Fitz asks after they listen to her talk to it for a few seconds.

She looks up at him, smiling as she says, "Teddy."

Fitz laughs and smiles at his little girl. "Teddy is a really nice name, honey. But how are you going to tell your brother Teddy apart from your balloon Teddy?"

She thinks for a minute and smiles again. "Teddy is Teddy. Ba-oon is Teddy Daddy."

Olivia smiles, "Alright, well speaking of Teddy, it's just about time to go and pick him up from school. Say goodbye to Daddy, Gracie, we have to go."

Grace pouts, "No. I stay with Daddy."

"Daddy is still working, kiddo. He has to teach another class before he can go home," Olivia informs her, and Grace looks up at Fitz.

"I help you, Daddy!"

"No Gra—" but before she can finish, Fitz cuts her off.

"Daddy would love it if you helped me today, Gracie," Fitz says with a smile, and the little girl then smiles in return.

Olivia turns to look at him, still seated on his lap. "Are you sure? Because I'll take her."

"I'm sure. Go spend some quality time with Teddy. I only have a few things to cover today so we should be done relatively quickly. And then I'll pick up dinner on the way home. Thai sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," she says with a smile, pecking his lips quickly. "Alright," she says looking over at Grace, "Come give Mommy a hug and kiss goodbye."

Grace quickly runs over and Olivia lifts her onto the desk opposite her, giving her a tight hug and kiss on the forehead. "I love you, sweet pea. Have fun with Daddy."

"I will, Mommy. I go to school!" She says happily, and Olivia stands up and grabs her purse off of the couch, walking towards the door.

Fitz whispers something into Grace's ear and then helps her off the desk, letting her run over to Olivia before she has a chance to leave his office. "Mommy!"

"Yes baby?" she asks as she turns and kneels down.

She wraps her arms around Olivia's neck, "I love you Mommy!" and she pulls back, "And I love you baby!" she adds as she does her best to kiss Olivia's belly. "Bye, Mommy."

"Good bye, sweet girl," Olivia replies as she gives Grace one last squeeze and heads out the door.

Grace walks back around the desk to Fitz and reaches up to signal that she wants to be lifted into his lap. He complies, and presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Okay Gracie, Daddy is supposed to be working right now, so if someone comes in you're going to have to go sit on the couch over there and try to be quiet. Can you do that for me?"

"I think so," she says confidently, before asking, "Who come?"

"Well," he says as he tries to think of a way to explain the concept of office hours to his two and a half year old, "You know how when you have questions, you ask them?"

She nods.

"Well, when my students have a question, they come here to ask me. Do you have any questions for me, Grace?"

She nods her head, "Can I color?"

Fitz smiles and grabs a pack of crayons from his desk and a stack of computer paper from the printer, and with them in one hand and Grace in the other, he moves across the floor and sets her up on the small coffee table in front of the couch.

He sits back down at his desk and starts grading some papers, smiling periodically as he listens to Grace softly sing to herself the song that Olivia sings to her at bedtime. A student comes in a few minutes later, and after Fitz chats with him for a while, Grace walks over and climbs into the chair next to him.

He looks over at Grace and smiles, "And you must be Grace. Hi, my name is Austin. It's very nice to meet you."

Grace sheepishly smiles at him and then looks over at Fitz and back to Austin. "What's your question?"

Fitz laughs and quickly clarifies for Austin, "I explained office hours to her as students coming in to ask questions."

"Oh," she says with an understanding smile, "I was asking for clarification for one of my papers on President Pro Tem. Do you think you can help me?"

She smiles and nods her head, "Daddy was president!"

Austin laughs, "Yes he was. First election I could vote in was your reelection actually."

"My Daddy was best," she says with a smile as she slides off the chair and runs back over to her crayons and paper by the coffee table.

"Sorry about that," Fitz says once Grace is seated back across the office, "I was trying to avoid a meltdown so I let her stay."

"Will she be in class later?" Austin asks as he quickly glances back at the little girl and then back at Fitz. "If Lisa has already left, yes. If not, probably not."

"Well no offence, but I think she'd spice up your lectures a little bit."

Fitz laughs and shakes his head in amusement, "Are you trying to say that I'm one of those old boring professors that everyone tries to avoid?"

"Your words," Austin says with a laugh, "Not mine."

Fitz holds up the stack of papers on his desk, "You haven't seen boring until you've read these. Who gave you all an undergrad degree with atrocious writing like this?"

"Wait, what does atrocious mean again?" Austin banters back with a laugh.

"Exactly my point. Now go get out of my office so I can color with my kid."

Austin and Fitz both stand, and Fitz reaches out to shake his hand. "Keep working hard and this will be you behind the desk some day."

Austin nods and turns to leave. "Good bye, Grace. It was very nice meeting you."

"Wait," she says exasperatedly, scribbling a few more red lines on her paper and running over to him. "I drawed this for you!"

"Wow, thank you so much. I love your abstract impression of the American flag," he says with a kind smile.

"You're welcome," she says with a smile of her own before turning to look at Fitz. "Daddy is it time for school?"

"Almost, kiddo. Probably two more pictures worth and then it should be."

"Okay, Daddy," she says happily, turning back to her drawing. She colors for a while, Fitz sitting on the couch just watching her, enjoying their time together.

She collects all of the papers and crawls up into his lap with them, the balloon still tied to her hand. "This is for Mommy," she says as she hold up a piece of paper with some red and purple scribbles on it. "And Kan, and Gerry, and Teddy," she says as she shows off the next three, and with the last one she looks up at him with a sheepish smile. "And you, Daddy."

He takes the paper with green and blue scribbles and studies it for a few seconds before placing all of the papers on the couch and wrapping Grace up in a tight hug. "Thank you so much, sweet pea. I love it, and I love you very much."

"I love you too, Daddy," she says happily as she leans back against his chest. "Time for school now?" She asks sitting up after a few seconds.

He checks his watch and nods, "Just about. Are you ready to help me?"

She confidently nods, and they walk out of his office together, Grace happily skipping ahead of him, mumbling to herself.

"This way, kiddo," Fitz calls as Grace misses to turn off for the lecture hall, and she comes sprinting back, running ahead of him into the large room. She takes one look at all of the students seated in front of her, and quickly runs behind Fitz's legs, grabbing on for dear life.

Some of the students laugh and Fitz smiles at them as he reaches down to pick the little girl, and she quickly buries her face into his shoulder. "C'mon Grace, you were supposed to be Daddy's helper today. You can't help if you're shy."

She quickly scans the room again and looks at Fitz, "There's too many."

"Can you sit here and watch Daddy then?" he asks as Grace buries her face back into his shoulder and nods. "Why don't you go sit next to Austin and play ponies on my phone?"

"Okay," she says shyly and takes the phone when it's offered to her, climbing up into the chair next to Austin when Fitz puts her down.

"Can we all play ponies too?" A guy in the back asks, and everyone laughs.

"Of course you can—but on your own time. Right now, we've got about five slides to get through and then we can all get out of here," Fitz says good naturedly as he pulls up his PowerPoint and starts to lecture.

Grace sits quietly and plays her game the entire time Fitz is teaching, only looking up when he calls her name. "Grace, do you want to show everyone what you learned last week?"

She quickly shakes her head, fear in her eyes. "Oh c'mon sweet pea, what if I said it with you?"

She looks up, worry on her face, still not convinced. "What if everyone did it with you?"

Austin whispers something to her and she slowly nods in agreement. "Alright, c'mon then," Fitz says, and Grace climbs down and runs to the front of the room to him, her balloon trailing behind her the whole way. He picks her up and places her on his hip, "Are you ready?"

"You start," she says softly, and he nods, taking the small microphone from his shirt and bringing it to her mouth. "Ready?"

She nods. "I pledge allegiance," he says slowly, waiting for Grace to pick it up, and after a few seconds, she does. "to the flag of the United States of America." Fitz raises his arm and everyone else joins in too. "And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Everyone claps for her and she smiles, taking a bow in his arms.

"Alright guys, class dismissed. Have a good night," he says with a laugh, pressing a kiss to the top of Grace's head as everyone starts to leave the room. "Are you ready to go home?"

She nods. "That was fun. Can I come tomorrow?"

He laughs, gathering all of his belongings before leaving the building with Grace walking beside him, "We'll have to ask your mother about that one."


End file.
